r 


THE   WILDS  OF 

PATAGONIA 


.•  !  '•! 


Caki.  Skc^t'isherc;. 


THE  WILDS  OF 

PATAGONIA 

A  NARRATIVE  OF  THE  SWEDISH 
EXPEDITION  TO  PATAGONIA 
TIERRA  DEL  FUEGO  AND  THE 
FALKLAND  ISLANDS   IN   19a7-1909 


BY 

CARL  SKOTTSBERG,  D.Sc,  etc. 


NEW  YORK 
THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

LONDON:    EDWARD  ARNOLD 
1911 

All  rifjhts  rtserved 


^^\ 


3(p 


s 


\U 


TO 
^IR  JOSEPH  DALTON  HOOKER 

0.51.,  G.C.S.I.,  C.B.,  D.C.L.,  LL.D..  F.E.S.,  etc. 

THE   PIONEER   AND   THE 

MASTER 

THIS  VOLUME  IS  DEDICATED  IN  PROFOUND 

ADMIRATION 


241496 


PREFACE 

When,  in  January  1904, 1  had  returned  from  taking  part 
in  tlie  Swedish  Antarctic  Expedition,  and  had  begun 
to  work  out  my  notes  and  collections,  it  happened  to  me, 
as  it  has  happened  to  so  many  others  before,  that  every 
now  and  then  questions  cropped  up  which,  for  want 
of  material,  had  to  be  left  unanswered.  Gradually  also 
quite  new  problems  presented  themselves,  and  the 
thought  of  returning  once  more  to  some  of  the  countries 
I  had  visited  soon  arose.  One  of  my  companions 
from  the  Antarctic,  Dr.  J.  G.  Andersson,  had  just  the 
same  experience,  but  was  kept  in  Sweden  by  his  work 
as  director  of  the  Geological  Survey.  Without  knowing 
of  my  scheme,  he  had  got  two  of  our  common  friends, 
T.  Halle  and  P.  Quensel,  interested  in  our  old  field  of 
operations  in  South  America,  and  one  day,  as  we 
happened  to  be  speaking  of  it,  we  considered  the 
possibihty  of  planning  a  modest  expedition,  principally 
for  geological  and  botanical  purposes.  With  a  geo- 
logical survey  were  connected  a  number  of  geographical 
problems,  such  as  the  changes  of  the  land  after  the  Ice 
Age ;  the  formation  and  true  nature  of  the  Patagonian 
Channels ;   the  origin  of  the  transverse  Andine  V  alleys ; 


viii  PEEFACE 

the  influence  of  geology  and    plant- geography    on   the 

landscape,   &c.     The  algological  investigations  would 

also  lead  to  the  formation  of  zoological  collections,  and 

besides,  we  thought  that  in  the  Patagonian  Channels 

we  should  have  opportunities  of  making  ethnographic 

studies. 

In  order  to  discuss  our  plans  I  arranged  with  Quensel 
and  Halle  that  they  should  meet  me  in  Stockholm  at 
the  Geological  Survey  office,  and  one  evening  was  born 
the  enterprise,  afterwards  called  the  "  Swedish  Magel- 
lanic Expedition,"  of  which  the  author  consented  to 
undertake  the  leadership,  the  members  being:  Carl 
Skottsberg,  born  1880,  D.Sc,  Lecturer  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  Upsala;  Percy  D.  Quensel,  born  1881,  B.Sc. 
(now  Dr.),  Upsala;  and  Thore  G.  Halle,  born  1884, 
B.Sc.  (now  Dr.),  Stockholm. 

I  devoted  myself  to  botanical  work,  but  also  made 
most  of  the  insignificant  zoological  collections.  The 
speciahty  of  Mr.  Halle  was  the  survey  of  fossiliferous 
deposits,  and  as  a  clever  bryologist,  he  assisted  me 
in  gathering  mosses  and  other  cryptogams.  Mr.  Quensel 
was  mainly  occupied  with  studies  of  the  eruptive 
rocks,  the  origm  of  the  Andes  and  the  phenomena  of 
glaciation.  On  many  occasions  the  two  geologists 
collaborated. 

But  it  is  one  thing  to  make  up  one's  mind  to  go  to 
South  America,  another  to  get  money  for  such  a  purpose. 
The   expedition   cost   about  23,000    Swedish   crowns 


PKEFACE  ix 

(£1280),  and  thanks  to  several  funds,  scientific  societies 
and  private  persons,  we  procured  the  necessary  money 
without  great  difficulty.  Many  useful  articles  in  our 
equipment  were  presented  to  us,  and  the  Swedish 
Johnson  Line  in  Stockholm  gave  us  a  free  passage  on 
its  steamers  to  and  from  Buenos  Aires.  To  all  those 
who  assisted  us,  I  have  tried  to  express  our  gratitude 
in  the  preface  to  the  Swedish  edition  of  this  book,  and 
have  explained  how  it  would  have  been  absolutely 
impossible  to  make  a  journey  which  lasted  nearly  two 
years  at  such  small  expense,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
unparalleled  generosity  shown  by  Argentina  and  more 
especially  by  Chile — not  that  the  Argentine  Government 
was  less  interested,  but  we  spent  most  of  the  time  in 
Chile.  I  need  not  repaat  this,  nor  my  sincere  thanks 
to  the  representatives  of  Sweden.  There  is,  however, 
one  thing  that  I  want  specially  to  mention  on  the 
occasion  of  my  book  being  laid  before  EngHsh  readers. 
AVe  spent  part  of  the  time  in  a  British  colony,  the 
Falkland  Islands,  where  His  Excellency  the  Governor, 
Mr.  W.  L.  AUardyce,  C.M.G.,  and  Mrs.  AUardyce,  both 
deeply  interested  in  scientific  work  in  general  as  also 
in  our  personal  welfare,  did  all  they  could  to  promote 
our  success.  We  are  also  greatly  indebted  to  the 
Falkland  Islands  Company  Ltd.,  to  its  director  in 
London,  Mr.  F.  E.  Cobb,  as  well  as  to  its  representatives 
in  Port  Stanley,  Mr.  W.  Harding,  Mr.  W.  C.  Girling 
and  Lieutenant  Colonel  A.  Reid,  D.S.O.  (no  longer  in  the 


X  PEEFACE 

Company's  service).  We  also  owe  very  much  to 
numerous  sheep- farmers,  Mr.  Allen  of  Darwin,  Messrs. 
Benney  of  Saunders  Island,  Mr.  Bertrand  of  Koy 
Cove,  Dr.  Bolus  (now  in  Punta  Arenas,  then  in  Fox 
Bay),  Mr.  Felton  of  Westpoint  Island,  Dr.  Foley,  of 
Darwin,  Mr.  Mathews  of  Port  Howard,  Mr.  Miller  of 
Hill  Cove,  Mr.  Packe  of  Port  Louis,  and  many  others? 
too  numerous  to  mention.  In  Chile  as  well  as  in  Argen- 
tina we  met  and  were  assisted  by  a  great  number  of 
Enghsh  people;  we  made  good  friends  wherever  we 
came,  and  learnt  to  admire  the  English  nation  as  the 
great  civiHsing  power  of  the  world. 

It  may  not  be  considered  unnecessary  to  mention,  that 
during  the  whole  journey  under  most  trying  conditions, 
I  and  my  comrades  remained  the  same  good  friends  as 
we  had  been  on  leaving  Sweden.  Nothing  is  so  well 
calculated  to  try  friendship  as  a  wild  life  away  from 
culture  and  from  other  people.  In  this  case  friendship 
certainly  stood  the  test. 

C.  S. 

Upsala,  1911 


CONTENTS 

PREFACE  Page  vii 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  COASTS  OF  THE  FALKLAND  ISLANDS 

We  leave  Sweden  :  Visits  to  Buenos  Aires  and  Montevideo  :  Arrive  at  the 
Falkland  Islands  :  Position  :  Port  Stanley  and  its  Social  Life  :  Com- 
munications :  The  Landscape  round  the  Town  :  Cape  Pembroke 
Lighthouse  and  the  Forest  in  the  Sea  ;  To  the  West  Falklands  :  Wild 
Cattle  :  The  Falkland  Fox  :  Adventure  on  Fox  Island  :  Life  on  Remote 
Islands  :  Roy  Cove  and  the  Tale  of  a  Ship's  Adventure  :  Westpoint 
Island :  Tussock-grass :  Bird  Life :  The  Dead  Forest  Pp.  1-18 

CHAPTER  II 

RIDING  THROUGH  THE  FALKLANDS 

Hill  Cove,  a  Fine  Settlement :  Shepherds  and  their  Life  :  Ascent  of  Mount 
Adam  t  A  Nocturnal  Excursion  :  Saunders  Island  and  a  Page  of 
History  :  Valley  of  the  Warrah  River  :  A  Dangerous  Passage  :  Port 
Howard  :  Across  Country  to  Fox  Bay  :  A  miserable  Christmas  :  Notes 
on  Geology :  Lafonia  and  Port  Darwin  :  A  Ride  to  San  Carlos  :  Return 
Overland  to  Port  Stanley  :  Port  Louis  and  its  History  :  Departure 

Pp.  19-31 

CHAPTER  III 

IN  TIERRA  DEL  FUEGO 

Punta  Arenas  :  Babylonian  Confusion  :  Preparations  :  Dawson  Island  and 
the  Salesian  Mission  Station ;  On  the  Shore  of  Lake  Fagnano :  Hardships 
in  the  Azopardo  Valley  :  The  First  Guanaco  :  We  Pitch  the  Tents  at 
Fagnano  ;  Pagela  :  The  Betbeder  Pass  and  Discoveries  South  of  it  :  A 

xi 


xii  CONTENTS 

chilly  awakening  ;  Halle's  Excursion  to  Lake  Deseado  :  Boat  Trip 
on  Lake  Fagnano  :  We  Raise  our  Camp  :  A  Difficult  Embarking  5 
Back  in  Punta  Arenas  Pp.  32-61 

CHAPTER  IV 

OTWAY  WATER  AND  SKYRING  WATER 

Cape  Froward  j  Jerome  Channel  :  Patagonian  Gold  Fever  3  Along  the 
Shores  of  Otway  :  Notes  on  Vegetation  :  Fitzroy  Channel  :  Storm  : 
A  Solitary  Hut ;  Traces  of  Indians  :  Excelsior  and  Glacier  Sounds  : 
Gajardo  Charmel  and  a  Perilous  Boat  Excursion  :  Huemvl  Aground  : 
The  Water  of  Skyring  :  Fossiliferous  Beds  :  Another  Tale  of  a  Rline  : 
A  Nocturnal  Adventure  ;  Saved  Pp,  62-74 

CHAPTER  V 

THE  PATAGONIAN  CHANNELS 

Preparations  :  Captain  Bordes  ;  Our  Indian  Interpreter  :  The  Magellan 
Skargard  ;  On  the  EvangeMstas  Rocks  ;  Unknown  Waters  :  The  Pata- 
gonian Channels  and  their  Nature  :  We  meet  the  first  Indians  :  Two 
Tracks  ;  The  Penas  Gulf  :  Baker  Inlet  :  In  the  unknown  Interior  of 
Peel  Inlet :  Back  through  Smyth  Channel  Pp.  75-90 

CHAPTER  VI 

A  DYING  RACE 

Our  first  Encounter  with  Aborigines  :  Appearance  :  Visit  to  an  Indian 
Camp  :  The  Indian  Wigwam  :  Food  :  Hunting  and  Weapons  :  Social 
Customs  5  Treatment  of  the  Women  :  Character  :  Nomadic  Life  : 
Canoes  :  Travelling  :  Remarkable  Portages  :  Language  :  Extermma- 
tion  !  Views  of  the  Future  Pp.  91-103 

CHAPTER  VII 

CHILOE  AND  THE  GULF  OF  CORCOVADO 

Chiloe,  Historical  Retrospect :  Ancud,  the  Capital :  Schools  :  Power  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  :  The  Chilotes  and  their  Life  :  A  Ride  to  the 
Pacific  Coast  :  Pudeto  River  1  Primeval  Forest  of  Chiloe  :  Castro  ; 
Adventurous  Voyage  to  Huafo  Island  1  Forest  Scenery  1  Wild  Days  : 


CONTENTS  xiii 

To  the  Island  of  San  Pedro  in  the  Footsteps  of  Darwin  !  Quellon  ; 
Corcovado,  "  el  famoso  "  }  The  Yelcho  Valley  Pp.  104-124 


CHAPTER  VIII 

IN  THE  HEART  OF  CHILE 

To  the  Centre  of  Chile  :  Corral  and  Valdivia  :  Halle's  Surveys  in  the  Coal- 
mines of  Arauco  :  Lota  :  Valparaiso  :  Santiago  and  its  Swedish 
Colony  I  Los  Andes  :  The  Uspallata  Pass  and  the  Transandine 
Railway  :  Aconcagua  t  Bano  del  Inca  :  A  Strange  Descent  :  The 
Great  National  Festival  of  Chile  :  To  Port  Montt 

Pp.  125-133 

CHAPTER  IX 

ROBINSON  CRUSOE'S  ISLAND 

The  Islands  of  Juan  Fernandez «  Discovery  and  Position !  First  Impression  : 
Robinson's  "  Look-out "  :  Wonderful  Plant  World  o  The  Chonta 
Palm  :  Marvellous  Ferns  :  Extermination  of  a  Unique  Vegetation  : 
The  Memorial  Tablet  of  Alexander  Selkirk,  the  real  Robinson  :  The 
History  of  the  Sandal  Tree :  The  last  Sandal  Tree :  Robinson's  Grotto  : 
Bahia  del  Padre  :  Masafuera  Island  j  Topography  :  Remarkable  Plain  : 
Wild  Goats  :  Marvellous  Valleys  :  Our  Scientific  Results  :  The  Future 
of  the  Islands  Pp.  134-148 

CHAPTER  X 

ACROSS  THE  ANDES  INTO  ARGENTINA 

Plans  for  the  Return  South  i  Notes  on  the  Discoveries  in  Patagonia  !  The 
Boundary  Dispute  between  ChUe  and  Argentina  !  We  leave  Port 
Montt  !  Osomo  and  Calbuco  Volcanoes  :  Lake  Todos  los  Santos  s  On 
the  Glaciers  of  Mount  Tronador  :  Across  the  Pass  :  Snowstorm  : 
Bariloche  :  Preparations  for  a  Long  Journey  s  Our  Caravan  and  Equip- 
ment ;  On  Horseback  Pp.  149-166 

CHAPTER  XI 

THROUGH  NORTHERN  PATAGONIA 

First  Impression  of  the  Pampas  j  Our  First  Camping-place  !  Norquinoo  ; 
Half  the  Caravan  Disappears  !  :  Inquiries  :  Across  the  River  Chubut ; 
Life  on  the  Lelej  Farm  ;  A  Hearty  Welcome  :  Ostriches  and  Guanacos  ; 


xiv  CONTENTS 

Through  the  Nahuelpan  Pass  ;  16th  October  Valley  s  Notes  on  Vegeta- 
tion :  Along  the  Futaleufu  River  to  the  Chilean  Boundary  ;  South 
Again  :  In  the  VaUey  of  the  River  Carrenleuf u  ;  Another  Bankrupt 
Company  and  a  Swedish  Colonist  Pp.  167-186 


CHAPTER  XII 

THROUGH  THE  CORDILLERAS  TO  THE  PACIFIC  COAST 

Salt  Lagoons  and  Abundant  Bird-life  :  The  First  "  Meseta  "  :  The  Cisnes 
Valley  :  Excursion  to  the  Forest  Region  ;  Tuco-tuco  and  Patagonian 
Deer  :  Senguerr  River  :  No  Water  ;  Back  in  Chile  :  Lamb-marking  ; 
The  Coyaike  Valley  :  The  Aysen  Company  :  To  the  Pacific  Coast  : 
Luxuriant  Rain-forest  s  Return  to  Aysen^  Pp.  187-197 

CHAPTER  XIII 

LAKE  BUENOS  AIRES 

The  Swamp  of  Rio  Mayo  :  Meseta  Chaha,  an  Adventurous  Passage  s  Float- 
ing Soil  and  Tuco-tucos  :  A  Dangerous  Descent  :  The  Puma  :  VaUe 
Koslowsky  ;  A  Singular  Telegraph  Office  :  The  Landscape  round  Lake 
Buenos  Aires  :  In  the  Fenix  Valley  :  Interesting  Vegetation  :  Hunting 
Young  Guanacos  :  Patagonian  Fur-trade  :  Armadillos  j  Ruckel's 
Peril :  Difficulties  in  the  Jeinemeni  Valley  \  Ascent  of  the  Mountain 
ridge  at  Zeballos  River  Pp.  198-220 

CHAPTER  XIV 

LAGO  BELGRANO 

The  Zeballos  Pass  :  Natural  Features  at  Lake  Pueyrredon  ;  Troublesome 
Ascent :  In  the  Tarde  Valley  :  Across  to  Belgrano  River  :  Unexpected 
Encounter  with  German  Colonists  :  Our  Sin  against  the  Eighth. 
Commandment :  Christmas  :  We  Start  on  the  Lake  :  Contrary  Winds  : 
On  the  Lake  Azara :  Glorious  Mountain  Scenery ;  A  Happy  New  Year  ! 
We  strike  Camp  Pp.  221-238 

CHAPTER  XV 

LAKE  SAN  MARTIN 

Across  the  High  Pampas  :  Crossing  the  Rivers  Belgrano  and  Lista  i  The 
Troublesome  Tuco-tuco  Rivulet  :  Through  the  Forest  to  Carbon 


CONTENTS  XV 

River  :  The  F6siles  Pass,  our  Worst  Day  :  Lake  San  Martin :  Start 
with  a  Berthon  Boat  :  Head  Wind  :  In  the  Northern  Arm  e  The 
Schoenmeyr  Glacier  :  Imminent  Peril  :  "  Galley-slavery"  :  Farewell 
to  San  Martin  Pp.  239-257 

CHAPTER  XVI 

ACROSS  THE  SIERRA  DE  LOS  BAQUALES 

The  Swamps  round  Laguna  Tar  :  An  Unexpected  Encounter  s  Pave  and 
the  Skunk  :  On  the  shores  of  Lake  Viedma  :  Leona  River  and  a  Dead 
Landscape  :  With  Carlos  Fuhr  :  The  Ferry-boat  on  Santa  Cruz  River  t 
Visit  to  Cattle's  Farm  :  A  Lady  Gaucho  :  The  Baguales  Range  :  Back 
to  Civilisation  !  i  Notes  on  the  History  of  South  Patagonia 

Pp.  258-271 

CHAPTER  XVII 

LAGO  ARGENTINO 

Quensel's  Boat  Journey  in  1908  :  The  Start  and  Equipment  :  Squally 
Weather  :  Bismarck  Glacier,  a  Splendid  Sight :  Large  Icebergs  :  With 
a  Canvas  Boat  in  the  Ice :  To  the  North  Arm  :  Hell  Gate !  A  Dangerous 
Landing  :  A  Narrow  Escape  :  Upsala  Glacier :  Another  Clean  Shave  : 
Back  again  with  Rich  Results  Pp.  272-277 

CHAPTER  XVIII 

OUR  JOURNEY  TO  PUNTA  ARENAS 

Estancia  Payne  j  Importunate  Foxes  :  Cerro  Payne,  Patagonia's  most 
Beautiful  Mountain  :  Quensel's  Excursion  in  1907  :  Cerro  Donoso  : 
A  Bad  Day  and  a  Worse  Night :  Tame  Deer :  In  the  Payne  Mountains  : 
The  White  Stag  :  A  Picnic  Party  :  My  Excursion  to  the  Inland  Ice  : 
A  Heavy  March  :  Ultima  Esperanza  :  The  Eberhard  Family  :  The 
Maylodon  Cave  !  A  Night's  Ride  :  We  part  with  our  Horses  :  Arrival 
at  Punta  Arenas  Pp.  278-295 

CHAPTER  XIX 

THE  BEAGLE  CHANNEL 

Back  in  the  Channels  :  The  Brecknock  Pass  :  Wonderful  Glaciers :  Lapataia 
and  Lake  Acigami :  The  Mission  in  Douglas  Bay  :  The  Last  Yahgans  : 
Notes  on  Geology  :  Ushuaia  ;  Bridges'  Farm  :  Slogget  Bay  and  Gold- 


xvi  CONTENTS 

digging  in  Tierra  del  Fuego  ;  Another  Boundary  Dispute  :  Return  to 
Punta  Arenas  and  to  Buenos  Aires  Pp.  296-313 


CHAPTER  XX 

A  WINTER  TRIP  TO  SOUTH  GEORGIA 

We  leave  on  Board  the  Cachalote  ;  Severe  Damage  of  Engines  :  Adrift  on 
the  High  Seas  :  Exciting  Situation  :  The  Engines  Repaired  :  Bad 
Night  on  the  Coast ;  At  Anchor  again  :  Nature  and  Position  of  South 
Georgia  :  Climate  ;  Flora  and  Fauna  ;  Winter's  Unexpected  Arrival  : 
Along  the  Coast  ;  Stormy  Days  :  Whaling  :  A  Singular  1st  of  May  : 
With  Escort  to  Buenos  Aires  :  Return  to  Sweden  Pp.  314-329 

INDEX  P.  330 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

To  face 
page 
Carl  Skottsberg  Frontispiece 

Percy  D.  Quensel  ^ 

Thore  G.  Halle  4 

Typical  Landscape  in  East  Falkland  with  quartzite  ridge  10 

Mollymawk  Rookery,  West  Point  Island  l6 

Penguin  Rookery  (Eudyptes),  West  Point  Island  1 6* 

The  Great  Stone-run  South  of  Port  Louis,  East  Falkland  28 

The  Roads  of  Punta  Arenas,  South-wester  blowing  32 

Punta  Arenas  from  the  hills  32 

Back  from  the  Betbeder  Pass  38 

Indians  at  the  Dawson  Mission  Station  38 

The  Betbeder  Valley  52 

Mount  Svea,  with  glacier  and  moraines  52 

The  Bottom  of  Ventisqueros  Sound  68 

The  Entrance  of  Excelsior  Sound  72 

Our  Interpreter,  Channels  of  Patagonia  78 

Two  Channel  Indians  78 

Peel  Inlet,  with  great  glaciers  90 

Indian  Camp,  Sarmiento  Channel  9* 

Chilote  House  1 06 

The  Plaza  in  Ancud,  Chiloe  106 

The  Famous  Corcovado  11 6 

Valdivia  126 

Harbour  at  Valparaiso  126 


xviii  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

To  face 
page 

Robinson's  "Lookout/'  with  commemorative  tablet  l^O 

View  from  top  of  Masafuera  showing  canyons  144 

Robinson's  Grotto  144 

Puerto  Montt  158 

Ready  to  start  158 
Small  Patagonian  Sheep  Farm  \7Q 

Patagonian  Rain-forest  194 

Fenix  River  214 

Valley  of  Antiguos  River  looking  South  214 

The  Belgrano  Pass,  with  giant  basalt  pillars  226 

West  Arm  of  Lake  Belgrano  226 

German  Colonists,  Lake  Belgrano  234 

Breakfast  Table  on  Christmas  Day,  Lake  Belgrano  234 

View  of  Pampas,  near  Lake  Argentino  262 

Dead  Landscape,  East  of  Leona  River  262 

The  Bismarck  Glacier,  Lake  Argentino  274 
The    Upsala   Glacier,    Lake    Argentino    (the    biggest    in 

Patagonia)  274 

Icebergs  and  Canvas  Boat,  Lake  Argentino  274 

Last  Hope  Inlet  288 

The  "Neomylodon"  Cave,  Last  Hope  Inlet  292 

The  Beagle  Channel,  looking  West  296 

Ushuaia  and  Martial  Mountains  304 

Glacier  in  N.W.  Arm  of  Beagle  Channel  310 

Panorama  South-west  side  of  Lake  Acigami  312 

"  The  Winter's  Bark,"  Tierra  del  Fuego  312 

The  Norwegian  Factory,  South  Georgia  31 6 

A  Meeting  in  South  Georgia  316 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  xix 

To  face 
pag* 

Humpback  Whale,  upside  down,  South  Georgia  324 

Three  Right  Whales,  South  Georgia  324 


MAPS 

Map  of  South  America  ^^  g,j^ 

The  Falkland  Islands  Fadng page      6 

Otway  and  Skyring  Waters  „       „     62 


CHAPTEK  I 

THE  COASTS  OF  THE  FALKLAND  ISLANDS 

The  Swedish  steamer  Princess  Ingehorg  left  Gothenburg 
on  September  10,  1907.  Wind  and  sea  favoured  us, 
and,  after  a  most  agreeable  passage,  which  came  like 
a  strengthening,  refreshing  rest  after  all  the  work  of 
the  preceding  months,  we  arrived  in  Buenos  Aires 
on  October  7.  The  Swedish  Minister,  Mr.  0.  Gylden, 
gave  us  a  hearty  welcome,  and  informed  us  that  the 
Argentine  Republic  had  generously  granted  us  the  help 
we  had  applied  for.  We  had  ample  time  to  get  a  glimpse 
of  the  surrounding  country,  but  naturally  preferred  to 
confine  our  attention  chiefly  to  the  scientific  centres,  to 
La  Plata,  Buenos  Aires,  and  Cordoba,  where  people 
always  showed  themselves  interested  in  our  enterprise 
and  helped  us  to  make  a  good  start.  . 

In  ]\Iontevideo  the  Swedish  Consul,  Mr.  Rogberg, 
met  us,  and  after  a  short  stay,  which  we  thoroughly 
enjoyed,  we  began  our  voyage  on  the  P.S.N.C.  liner 
Oravia. 

The  big  steamer  made  its  way  over  a  calm  and  friendly 
sea  that  lay  glittering  in  the  bright  sunshine.  For  a 
couple  of  days  we  carried  the  spring  of  favoured  Uruguay 
with  us,  but  on  the  very  morning  when  we  expected 
to  get  our  first  glimpse  of  the  Falklands  a  chill  fog 
slowly  descended  over  the  waters,  and  anxious  passengers 

1  A 


2  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

tried  in  vain  to  get  a  sight  of  land.  All  at  once, 
close  by,  the  brown  and  yellow,  storm-beaten  coast 
loomed  up  out  of  the  heavy  mist,  and  through  furious 
squalls  and  a  deluge  of  rain  the  Oravia  steered  between 
the  Narrows  and  anchored  in  the  spacious,  natural  V 
harbour  of  Stanley. 

The  first  person  to  greet  us  was  one  of  the  stafE  of 
the  Falkland  Islands  Company,  Lieut. -Colonel  Alexander 
Eeid,  D.S.O.,  who  had  served  with  the  C.LV.s  during 
the  last  South  African  War.  We  shall  always  remember 
him  as  one  of  the  best  friends  our  expedition  met  on 
its  long  journey.  Presently  the  acting  Swedish  Consul, 
Mr.  Girling,  arrived  on  board,  and  soon  afterwards  we 
found  ourselves  comfortably  seated  at  afternoon  tea 
in  our  new  quarters.  Once  more  the  smoke  from 
the  Falkland  peat- fire  filled  my  nostrils,  recalling  to 
memory  my  old  acquaintance  with  this  peculiar  land 
and  its  inhabitants — an  acquaintance  that  I  was  now 
to  revive  and  to  increase.  We  said  good-bye  to  Mr. 
Quensel  for  some  time,  as  he  was  going  straight  on  to 
Punta  Arenas,  in  order  to  make  an  expedition  into  the 
interior  of  South  Patagonia. 

The  Falkland  group  extends  from  S.  Lat.  51  °  to  52°  30' 
and  from  Long.  57°40'to61°25' W.,  and  consists  of  two 
large  and  a  very  great  number  of  small  islands,  which 
form  a  regular  barrier  against  the  ocean  waves.  The 
coast- hne  is  exceedingly  broken;  long,  narrow,  and 
winding  creeks  penetrate  far  into  the  country,  marking 
the  course,  as  there  are  many  proofs  to  show,  of  old 
valleys  now  submerged  under  the  level  of  the  sea. 

On  the  east  coast  of  East  Falkland  is  situated  the 


THE  COASTS  OF  THE  FALKLAND  ISLANDS    3 

little  town  of  Port  Stanley,  with  about  1000  inhabitants. 
Along  the  south  shore  of  the  harbour  and  on  the  slope 
of  a  low  ridge,  which  shuts  out  the  view  of  the  ocean 
towards  the  south,  long  rows  of  houses  are  erected,  for 
the  most  part  small  cottages  built  of  wood.  They  leave 
a  very  homely  impression,  as  their  occupants  have 
tried  to  transform  their  porches  into  small  conservatories, 
where  the  eye  rests  on  bright  colours — which  the  soil 
itself  absolutely  refuses  to  reproduce. 

Some  buildings  attracted  our  attention  more  than  the 
rest.  In  the  far  "  West  End  "  there  is  a  conglomeration 
of  houses,  together  constituting  the  Government  House, 
the  residence  of  his  Excellency  the  Governor.  Mr.  W.  L. 
Allardyce,  C.M.G.,  now  holds  this  position.  He  is  a 
man  warmly  interested  in  the  material  as  well  as  the 
spiritual  welfare  of  his  colony,  and  we  fully  recognized 
his  appreciation  of  our  scientific  work,  which  he  tried 
to  promote  as  far  as  lay  in  his  power.  He  rules  a  vast 
dominion.  Some  years  ago  Great  Britain  painted  red 
another  large  section  of  the  globe,  the  colony  now 
including,  besides  the  Falklands  and  South  Georgia, 
the  South  Sandwich  Islands,  South  Orkneys,  South 
Shetlands,  and  Graham's  Land.  The  result  of  this 
spread  of  British  power  was  far-reaching.  The  whahng 
industry  having  languished  in  Norway,  energetic 
whalers  started  in  the  South  Atlantic  and  Antarctic 
Seas,  and  numerous  vessels  hunt  there  every  summer 
and  pay  their  tribute  to  the  Falkland  Government, 
which  has  thus  increased  its  revenue. 

At  the  other  end  of  the  town  lies  a  long  white  building, 
representing  the  second   power   here — not  the   people. 


4  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

but  the  F.I.C. — the  Falkland  Islands  Company — a 
mighty  institution.  Only  with  the  assistance  of  its 
chief  on  the  spot,  Mr.  W.  Harding,  were  we  able  to  carry 
out  our  investigations  in  the  most  interesting  part  of 
East  Falkland,  or  to  visit  the  western  islands,  where 
the  company's  small  schooners  are  the  sole  available 
means  of  communication. 

The  third  State  power,  the  press,  is  closely  connected 
with  the  Church,  as  the  name  of  the  only  paper.  The 
Falkland  Islands  Magazine  and  Church  Paper,  issued 
once  a  month,  bears  incontestable  witness.  Close  to 
the  beach  rises  the  cathedral;  a  proud  title  which  is 
borne  as  a  matter  of  fact  by  a  little  stone  chapel. 
The  city  of  Stanley  is  the  headquarters  of  a  bishop, 
but  as  his  diocese  includes  almost  the  whole  of  South 
America  the  islanders  do  not  enjoy  his  presence  for 
more  than  a  fortnight  in  the  year.  Naturally,  the 
inhabitants  are  too  numerous  to  be  of  one  faith.  Both 
Eoman  Catholics  and  Baptists  have  their  own  churches, 
but  the  relations  between  the  different  sects  seem  to  be 
most  amicable,  at  least  if  one  dare  judge  from  a  certain 
little  scene  that  has  remained  in  my  memory.  A 
welcome  was  arranged  for  the  bishop,  and  on  that 
occasion  the  faithful  gave  free  scope  to  their  talents, 
and  a  Roman  Catholic,  whose  intentions  were  excellent 
if  his  voice  was  poor,  appeared  on  the  stage  and  sang 
a  little  song  in  honour  of  his  lordship. 

It  is  remarkable  and  almost  touching  to  observe 
with  what  faithfulness  the  2300  Falklanders  cling  to 
the  habits  of  the  old  country,  from  the  parlour  with  its 
polished   stove,    the   china   cats   on   the   mantelpiece. 


THE  COASTS  OF  THE  FALKLAND  ISLANDS    5 

the  breakfast  of  eggs  aud  bacon,  to  the  bedrooms  without 
a  fire.  When  you  have  drawn  the  curtains  and  lit  the 
lamp  you  can  believe  that  you  are  in  a  snug  little  house 
in  a  small  English  town.  But  take  a  look  out  of  doors, 
and  you  generally  meet  a  howling  west  wind,  a  cold  rain 
beats  on  your  face,  and  whichever  way  you  turn  you 
always  see  the  same  dreary,  desolate  landscape.  You 
must  certainly  be  born  in  Northern  Europe,  or  you 
would  lose  heart  in  this  forlorn  corner  of  the  world. 

The  centre  of  Stanley  society  is  Government  House, 
and  picnics,  dances,  and  dinners  follow  hard  upon 
each  other.  I  can  assure  you  that  there  is  plenty  to 
amuse  you  in  Stanley — that  is,  if  you  have  the  privilege 
of  being  admitted  to  the  "upper  ten"  (without  a 
thousand !). 

Life  is  much  less  easy  for  those  who  have  been 
stranded  on  this  inhospitable  coast,  not  of  their  own 
free  will,  but  by  a  cruel  fate.  Generally  they  seek 
refuge  in  one  of  the  six  small  "  hotels,"  where  statistics 
show  the  consumption  of  whisky  to  be  considerable. 
Nevertheless,  the  police  can  go  to  bed  early  in  Port 
Stanley,  where  the  peace  is  seldom  broken. 

Communication  with  England  is  kept  up  by  the 
P.S.N.C.  steamers,  which  touch  once  a  month  on  their 
outward  and  once  on  their  homeward  passage  from  the 
west  coast  of  Chile  and  Punta  Arenas.  Their  visits 
put  new  life  into  the  little  town;  boxes  and  parcels 
bring  dainties  and  the  latest  fashions;  the  post-office 
is  besieged;  strangers  come  ashore  to  have  a  look 
round  and  to  buy  illustrated  post- cards.  But  the  huge 
black  hull  soon  disappears,  and  the  town  sinks  back  into 


6  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

its  usual  quiet.  Now  and  again  a  sailing-vessel  happens 
to  come  inside  the  harbour — generally  it  is  some 
damaged  craft,  which  then  often  loses  its  freedom. 
To  repair  it  is  too  expensive,  and  so  the  F.LC.  buys  the 
whole  thing,  and  the  port  makes  an  addition  to  its  fine 
collection  of  old  hulks. 

It  is  a  day  in  early  spring  on  the  hills  near  Port 
Stanley.  The  heath  stretches  yellow  and  dreary,  the 
withered  grass  is  beaten  to  the  ground  by  an  irritating 
wind,  from  which  you  can  find  hardly  any  shelter. 
Grey  and  broken  quartzite  ridges  run  through  brown 
peat- bogs.  Nowhere  is  there  a  tree  visible,  scarcely  a 
bush  is  to  be  seen ;  the  islands  are  absolutely  destitute 
of  timber,  and  the  inhabitants  use  dried  peat  for  fuel. 
Here  and  there  a  little  white  flower  has  ventured  to 
peep  out  of  the  dead  grass  and  stands  shivering  in  the 
cold.  Let  us  climb  one  of  the  low  peaks  that  rise  a 
little  above  the  surroundings,  and  get  a  more  extensive 
but  not  a  finer  view.  Everywhere  we  see  the  same  sad 
picture ;  low  ridges,  undulating  plains,  winding  brooks, 
where  boggy  ground  gleams  with  its  dangerous  bright 
green  colour  as  if  to  warn  the  horseman.  Here  and 
there  glitters  some  little  shallow  pond.  A  frightened 
flock  of  sheep  hurries  ofl,  screaming  seagulls  hasten  past, 
slowly  the  turkey- buzzard  soars  away.  .  .  . 

Such  is  often  the  impression  you  get  on  a  short  visit 
to  the  Falklands,  especially  during  the  unfavourable 
season,  and  even  a  bright  sunny  day  can  hardly  give  this 
scenery  real  charm.  Grand  it  could  never  be  without 
the  assistance  of  the  sea,  for  here  as  in  so  many  other 


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THE  COASTS  OF  THE  FALKLAND  ISLANDS    7 

places  in  the  world    the  roaring  surf  bestows  a  wild 
beauty  upon  the  black,  inhospitable  cliffs. 

We  spent  the  first  few  days  making  excursions  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  town,  and  Mr.  Halle  went  as  far 
as  Port  Louis.  Later  on  I  shall  say  more  about  that 
place.  Before  we  leave  this  part  of  the  island,  however, 
let  me  conduct  the  reader  to  a  point  not  far  from  the 
city,  the  Kghthouse  near  Cape  Pembroke,  a  spot  that 
has  always  possessed  a  strong  attraction  for  me  since 
the  first  time  I  visited  it.  One  can  get  there  overland 
or  by  boat — let  us  choose  the  latter  way  this  time ! 
The  landing  is  interesting  enough;  the  shore  is  rocky, 
and  we  steer  through  foaming  breakers  towards  a  narrow 
gap.  Every  eye  is  watchful,  every  hand  ready.  Across 
the  opening  a  heavy  chain  is  stretched,  and  when  the 
boat  passes  underneath  a  line  is  flung  round  it,  the  end 
being  secured  round  the  middle  bench  of  the  boat; 
at  the  same  moment  another  line  is  thrown  ashore, 
where  a  man  stands  ready  to  receive  it.  It  is  indeed 
required;  the  surf  rolHng  in  hurls  the  boat  forward 
with  creaking  timbers  and  then  draws  it  back  again, 
so  that  the  ropes  are  strained  like  the  strings  of  a  violin. 
If  you  miss  the  chain  your  boat  may  be  crushed  against 
the  chfls.  This,  indeed,  has  happened,  but  I  am  glad 
to  say  that  I  managed  to  get  ashore  without  adventure, 
and  at  once  went  to  see  that  good  fellow,  the  light- 
house-keeper, who  was  glad  enough  to  get  some  company 
in  his  loneliness.  In  truth,  one  would  have  to  seek  far  to 
find  a  more  desolate  place  than  this.  After  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  tussock- grass  the  whole  promontory  was 
changed  into  a  vast  field  of  diifting  sand.      Desolation 


8  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

whispers  in  the  whistling  sand  that  beats  on  the  win- 
dows; desolation  howls  in  the  gale  round  the  black, 
jagged  rocks;  desolation  thunders  in  the  everlasting 
breakers.  But  one  gets  a  certain  feeling  of  security 
when  within;  the  light  carries  on  its  silent  struggle 
with  danger  and  darkness  and  the  sand  rattles  inces- 
santly against  the  iron  walls.  The  magnificent  lamp 
is  of  the  "  Lux"  pattern,  and  a  good  old  "  Primus" 
is  used  to  heat  the  burner.  The  vigorous  keeper,  my 
friend  Mr.  Pearce,  nurses  his  light  as  if  it  were  a  baby ; 
every  part  of  its  mechanism  is  perfectly  clean  and  shining, 
and  he  tells  you  with  barely  concealed  pride  that  the 
electric  flash  from  the  mail- steamer  is  but  poor  stuff 
in  comparison  with  his  own  light.  He  listens  to  every 
word  when  you  tell  him  of  foreign  countries,  and  he 
himself  has  rather  specialized  on  the  Antarctic  regions, 
ever  since  the  time  when  the  leader  of  the  Scottish 
National  Antarctic  Expedition,  Mr.  Bruce,  was  his 
guest. 

"When  the  sun  rose  I  found  plenty  to  do.  At  low 
tide  there  is  a  precious  world  spread  out  on  the  dry 
rocks  or  in  half- emptied  pools.  The  rocks  are  covered 
with  seaweeds,  green  and  reddish  brown,  of  all  shades 
and  colours ;  half  dead  from  thirst,  they  await  the 
arrival  of  another  tide  which  shall  restore  them  to  life. 
In  the  small  ponds  or  basins  a  variegated  company 
dwells.  A  carpet  of  rose- coloured  calcareous  algae 
covers  the  rock,  and  here  and  there  are  patches  of 
other  seaweeds,  from  the  largest  blade- Hke  variety 
to  the  small,  elegant  bushes,  displaying  the  brightest 
scarlet  or  crimson,   purple  or  violet  colouring.     And 


THE  COASTS  OF  THE  FALKLAND  ISLANDS    9 

what  a  life  there  is  in  these  recesses  !  The  most  splendid 
actinicB — sea- anemones,  as  they  are  often  called — stretch 
their  hundreds  of  arms ;  an  innumerable  horde  of  J^tle 
ciustaceae  dance  round  and  round,  wild  with  delight; 
beautiful  shells  rest  lazily  in  safe  nooks  and  crannies, 
while  here  and  there  little  fishes  that  have  got  left  behind 
when  the  water  receded  dart  to  and  fro  in  their  anxiety 
to  escape  their  temporary  prison. 

Deeper  down  the  gigantic  Durvilleas  roll  their  bodies 
in  the  foam — they  are  some  feet  broad  and  many  feet 
long,  and  fastened  on  the  bare  rock  by  means  of  a  short 
thick  stalk,  and  a  disc  just  like  a  horse's  hoof.  Some 
of  them  farther  out  in  the  heaviest  surf  are  of  another 
shape :  they  are  divided  into  long,  cylindrical  segments, 
which  writhe  like  serpents  in  eternal  struggle  with  the 
full  force  of  the  sea.  Below  lies  the  forest  of  the 
ocean.  It  is  formed  of  another  brown  kelp,  the  arboreous 
Lessonia,  with  trunks  many  feet  long  and  as  thick 
as  a  man's  thigh,  carrying  a  crown  of  large  yellowish- 
brown  leaves,  just  peeping  above  the  water,  and  slowly 
swinging  forwards  and  backwards  in  the  waves.  It  is 
a  magnificent  sight,  this  submerged  forest,  with  its 
rich  bower,  where  fishes  and  all  sorts  of  marine  animals 
swim,  while  a  whole  world  of  plants  and  creatures  thrive 
in  its  shadows.  A  pair  of  ducks  glide  along  chattering 
and  quacking,  followed  by  five  dear  little  ducklings,  who 
make  their  voyage  of  discovery  to  the  promised  land 
under  their  parents'  wise  direction.  Clear  as  crystal  is 
the  water,  and  the  temptation  to  have  a  bathe  is  very 
strong  indeed.  How  one  would  enjoy  climbing  in  those 
cmious  trees !    No  fear  that  the  branches  may  give 


10  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

way,  for  they  are  made  to  carry  a  greater  weight  than 
ours.  What  a  pity  that  the  water  is  so  cold — but  a  few 
degrees  above  freezing-point ! 

Finally,  let  us  gaze  round  farther  away  over  the 
water.  There  is  a  yellow  or  brownish  band,  that  extends 
along  the  shores  as  far  as  we  can  see.  It  is  one  of  the 
most  famous  plants  in  the  world,  Macrocystis,  Nature's 
own  beacon.  One  might  say  that  as  a  rule  there  is  no 
dangerous  reef  where  that  giant  seaweed  does  not  grow 
to  warn  the  sailor.  And  how  beautiful  it  is,  with  its 
graceful  branches  softly  moving  to  and  fro  with  the 
swell  of  the  ocean ! 

We  landed  in  Port  Stanley  on  October  26,  and  it  was 
long  before  we  found  a  schooner  bound  for  an  extended 
trip.  But  finally,  on  November  18,  the  Lafonia 
hoisted  the  Swedish  as  well  as  the  Enghsh  colours  and 
steered  out  to  the  open,  to  work  her  way  westward 
round  the  north  coast. 

The  outlines  of  the  country  are  monotonous ;  only  here 
and  there  a  round  hill  rises  above  the  neighbouring 
plains,  always  making  a  good  landmark. 

The  land  has  disappeared;  we  are  outside  the  Falk- 
land Sound  which  separates  the  two  large  islands,  and 
by-and-by  we  get  sight  of  the  three  hummocks  on  Pebble 
Island.  We  steer  clear  of  the  thousands  of  dangerous 
reefs,  and  continue  westward  with  a  fresh  N.N.W.  and 
a  heavy  sea  that  washes  our  little  craft  from  bow  to 
stern.  The  good  wind  keeps  fresh,  and  we  pass  the 
straits  at  Carcass  Island,  cross  Byron  Sound,  and  have 
the  good  luck  to  reach  Westpoint  Passage  with  the 
rising  tide,  which  allows  us  to  get  through  this  difficult 


THE  COASTS  OF  THE  FALKLAND  ISLANDS  U 

channel.  The  tidal  currents  on  the  Falkland  coast 
are  perhaps  the  greatest  danger  to  sailing-vessels.  They 
swirl  thi'ough  those  innumerable  narrow  channels 
which  one  is  bound  to  get  through,  with  the  strength 
of  up  to  six  or  seven  knots.  A  look  on  a  chart  is 
sufficient  to  persuade  us  that  we  are  navigating  a  very 
disagreeable  coast.  Hardly  a  year  passes  without  one 
or  more  of  the  small  Stanley  schooners  leaving  the  town, 
never  to  return. 

The  scenery  has  changed  a  little.  It  is  desolate  as 
before,  but  grander.  The  cliffs  run  down  to  the  sea 
sheer  as  though  cut  by  a  knife,  while  heavy  breakers 
throw  their  foam  high  above  them.  On  the  inside  of 
the  steep  Rabbit  Island,  in  King  George's  Bay,  the 
Lafonia  anchored,  but  the  next  morning  we  continued 
our  journey  across  the  gulf,  through  the  critical  East 
passage,  and  then  through  a  long  and  winding  sound  to 
the  entrance  of  Port  Philomel.  Here  we  encountered 
a  gale  lasting  four  and  a  half  days.  With  the  prevailing 
south-west  wind  it  was  out  of  the  question  to  get  away. 
We  were  anchored  only  a  few  hundred  yards  ofi  the 
land,  but  the  wind  was  so  strong  that  it  was  with 
difficulty  we  managed  to  get  ashore.  We  wanted  to 
march  across  the  peninsula,  in  order  to  get  acquainted 
with  one  of  the  more  inaccessible  parts  of  the  island.  It  is 
a  heavy  job  to  march  in  the  Falkland  camp,  up  and 
down  all  the  time,  through  ravines,  stone- runs,  or 
swamps.  Our  fame  as  "  foot- Indians "  is  not  small 
in  Port  Stanley,  and  we  begin  to  understand  why  the 
people  regard  a  long  walk  in  the  camp  as  something 
rather  eccentric. 


12  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

We  had  just  climbed  a  steep  ridge  when  I  thought 
I  smelt  something  famiHar,  and  stopped  to  trace  it. 
No  doubt  it  must  be  cattle,  which  seemed  pecuhar  so 
far  away  from  any  settlement.  But  the  smell  got 
stronger,  and  from  the  top  of  the  ridge  we  caught  sight 
of  the  cause — some  of  the  scanty  remnants  of  the  wild 
cattle,  a  small  herd  of  twenty,  amongst  them  some 
calves  and  two  bulls.  They  at  once  caught  sight  of 
us,  cows  and  calves  fell  back,  and  the  bulls  stopped  in 
front  of  them,  ready  for  action.  But  we  did  not  want 
to  come  any  closer,  and  thought  it  better  to  stop  where 
we  were  and  watch  them.  They  were  two  imposing 
beasts,  very  wild- looking,  with  enormous  horns,  long 
coarse  hair,  and  a  tail  with  a  tuft  of  respectable  dimen- 
sions. Some  minutes  passed ;  they  slowly  retired,  but 
turned  round  at  every  second  step  in  order  to  send  us  a 
friendly  look.  We  picked  our  way  cautiously,  for  we 
did  not  wish  to  run  across  them  unawares,  in  which  case 
they  would  have  charged  us  immediately.  And  as 
we  were  on  foot  and  without  any  other  arms  than  a 
knife  to  dig  up  plants  with,  we  were  not  exactly  prepared 
to  enter  on  a  struggle. 

When  the  colonists  in  the  middle  of  the  last  century 
came  to  the  islands  these  were  well  stocked  with  wild 
cattle,  and  we  were  told  the  most  exciting  tales  of  hunt- 
ing them  with  lasso  and  knife,  but  without  firearms. 
"  That  was  grand  sport,"  said  an  old  gentleman- pioneer. 
I  do  not  doubt  this,  but  horse  and  rider  lost  their  lives 
in  more  than  one  encounter. 

Finally  the  wind  changed,  and  the  question  of  how  to 
get  out  through  the  narrow  passage  arose.     The  current 


THE  COASTS  OF  THE  FALKLAND  ISLANDS  13 

here,  which  makes  about  seven  knots,  played  with  the 
ship  for  a  while,  but  eventually  we  came  safely  through 
it,  and  anchored  again  on  the  north  side  of  Fox  Island. 
Here,  however,  no  foxes  live,  the  name  being  all 
that  is  left  of  the  Falkland  fox.  He  was  too  tame; 
that  was  his  worst  fault.  An  old  farmer  on  the  settle- 
ment in  front  of  the  island  told  me  that  he  killed  his 
last  fox  in  1873,  and  shortly  afterwards  the  animal 
was  extinct.  This  is  a  pity,  as  the  species  Canis 
falTdandicus  has  now  disappeared  for  ever. 

The  glass  had  fallen  for  a  second  time,  but  our 
anxiety  to  visit  Fox  Island  was  so  great  that  not  even 
the  threatening  Falkland  weather  could  keep  us  back. 
My  intention  was  to  look  at  and  photograph  the  largest 
land  plant  of  all  Falkland,  the  Veronica  elliptica,  or 
Falkland  box,  which  seems  to  reach  its  greatest  dimen- 
sions just  here.  I  had  just  exposed  a  couple  of  plates 
when  the  first  squall  came  with  a  deluge  of  rain.  We 
tried  to  get  on  board  while  there  was  time,  and  made 
full  speed  for  the  landing-place ;  at  1  p.m.  we  were  back 
there.  But  it  was  too  late.  A  fresh  gale  was  blowing 
in  the  harbour:  far  out  the  Lafonia  lay,  rocking  on 
her  cables.  I  shall  never  forget  the  six  hours  we  spent 
on  shore  without  shelter.  At  seven  o'clock  the  wind  fell 
a  little,  enough  to  let  the  crew  lower  the  lifeboat  and  come 
to  fetch  us.  Captain  Osborne  himself  held  the  tiller, 
and  though  six  oars  worked  with  the  full  strength  of 
muscular  arms  they  nearly  failed  to  reach  us. 

We  did  not  regret  that  place  very  much  when  we 
weighed  anchor  to  visit  the  outlying  islands,  Weddell, 
Beaver,  and  New  Islands,   each  of  which  is  a  small 


14  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

sheep- farm.  I  can  hardly  imagine  people  more  shut 
out  of  the  world  than  their  inhabitants.  Years  pass 
without  their  seeing  any  strangers  save  the  crew  of 
the  little  schooner  that  comes  once  or  twice  a  year 
to  bring  provisions  and  carry  away  the  wool.  Here  one 
has  to  economise;  for  if  one  runs  short  of  an  article 
one  remains  so,  though  there  is  always  a  spare  supply 
of  important  things.  We  met  several  full-grown  persons 
who  were  born  there  and  had  never  left  the  place, 
and  who  thought  Port  Stanley  something  marvellous. 
This  explains  the  queer  behaviour  of  a  young  lady  of 
eighteen  who  ran  away  and  hid  herself  when  we  came, 
thus  providing  us  with  an  altogether  new  experience. 

No  scientists  had  visited  the  outlying  islands,  and 
people  had  told  us  many  remarkable  things  about  the 
geology  as  well  as  the  botany  of  the  place.  But  though 
these  are  typical  of  all  parts  of  the  AVest  Falklands, 
it  was  nevertheless  worth  something  to  be  able  to  reduce 
such  rumours  to  their  proper  proportions. 

It  will  be  easily  understood  that  it  must  be  very 
difficult  even  on  the  greater  and  richer  settlements 
to  reproduce  the  features  of  a  snug  and  sheltered  home, 
where  the  natural  conditions  are  so  unpromising  as  on 
the  Falklands.  When  we  steered  into  the  narrow  creek 
on  the  north  side  of  King  George's  Bay,  called  Koy  Cove, 
we  were  quite  astonished  to  find  that  place  well  worthy 
of  being  called  habitable.  The  hills  are  rather  pictur- 
esque, and  the  comfortable  little  houses,  embedded 
in  gorse- hedges  now  in  full  bloom,  left  a  very  favourable 
impression.  In  the  creek  we  made  a  discovery  that 
caused   us  all  to  stare  with  amazement.     Here  lay  a 


THE  COASTS  OF  THE  FALKLAND  ISLANDS  L5 

large  iron  vessel,  and  we  could  not  possibly  imagine 
what  business  it  could  have  in  such  a  remote  corner. 
But  the  enigma  was  soon  solved:  the  French  barque 
Due  d'Aumale  had  sprung  a  leak  on  the  high  seas, 
on  her  way  to  the  west  coast  of  America,  and  though 
in  another  couple  of  hours  she  would  have  gone 
down  to  a  certainty,  at  the  very  last  moment  her 
captain  managed  to  bring  her  into  Roy  Cove  with  the 
aid  of  a  chart.  The  ocean  here  has  many  tales  to 
tell :  almost  every  point  or  reef  is  connected  with  some 
shipwreck ;  innumerable  are  the  ships  that  destruction 
has  overtaken  on  this  coast,  where  no  beacon  or  light 
announces  danger. 

We  had  got  much  information  about  West  Point 
Island,  and  had  resolved  to  make  a  fairly  long  stay 
there  if  possible.  When  we  anchored  at  the  settlement 
on  the  island,  "  Clifton  Station,"  on  December  7, 
there  was  no  need  for  the  owner's  (Mr.  Arthur  Felton) 
persuasions;  we  were  only  too  glad  to  abandon  the 
Lafonia,  which  continued  her  voyage,  and  to  settle 
on  shore.  Mr.  Felton  approximates  very  nearly  to 
my  ideal  of  a  man.  Eeady  to  enjoy  life  and  civilization 
when  there  is  a  chance,  he  nevertheless  lives  in  complete 
harmony  with  the  wild  camp  life ;  interested  in  his  work, 
he  tries  all  sorts  of  grasses  for  his  sheep,  but  is  also — 
an  exception  to  the  general  rule — intensely  fond  of 
nature  itself  and  gifted  with  such  a  remarkable  capacity 
for  observation  that  many  a  naturahst  by  profession 
has  reason  to  envy  him.  He  knows  every  beast  or 
plant  on  his  island,  he  loves  and  nurses  them,  quite 
convinced  that  the  human  race  can  live  at  its  ease 


16  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

without  depriving  living  things  which  do  him  no  harm 
of  any  chance  of  existence.  I  have  never  met  anybody 
but  him  who  tries  to  save  one  of  the  Falklands'  finest 
adornments,  the  giant  tussock- grass  {Poa  flabellata), 
which  is  nearly  extinct  wherever  there  are  sheep, 
much  to  the  detriment  of  the  coast's  appearance. 

Mr.  Felton  expressed  the  deepest  interest  in  our  work, 
and  spared  neither  trouble  nor  time  to  prove  it;  he 
took  the  greatest  care  that  we  should  get  the  best 
possible  results  from  our  visit  to  his  kingdom, 
which  we  left  after  a  week,  not  without  considerable 
regret,  joining  unanimously  in  the  praise  that  has  been 
showered  upon  West  Point  Island.  An  excursion 
across  the  island  to  the  cliff  with  its  steep  rocks  and' 
crevices  is  well  worth  making.  Large  grass- bogs  cover 
the  slopes,  where  mollymawks  {Diomedea  chlororhyncha) 
have  their  rookery.  There  are  eggs  in  the  nests,  one 
of  which  is  more  than  sufficient  as  a  breakfast  dish. 
To  obtain  these  one  must  lift  the  hen  away  by  force; 
quick  as  lightning  she  turns  her  head,  opens  her  long 
beak,  and  shuts  it  with  a  click,  and  finally  tries  to  turn 
her  crop  inside  out  and  sprinkle  the  half- digested, 
stinking  food  on  the  intruders.  On  the  slope  above 
the  albatross's  dominion  is  a  penguin  rookery,  where 
the  visitor  may  like  to  stop  and  look  at  those,  perhaps 
the  most  comical  of  all,  animals  chattering  and  screaming 
among  the  pink- coloured  guano.  They  belong  to  the 
"  rock- hoppers "  {Eudyptes  chrysocome),  and  are  dark 
blue  and  white,  with  a  number  of  yellow  feathers  on 
the  side  of  the  head.  The  penguins  depend  completely 
on  the  water,  and  those  of  West  Point  have  a  hard 


MOLLYMAWK    ROOKEKY,    WksT    PoIXT    IsLANT). 


rr-NcriN    RooKEKV  ( i;rhVi'rE>)  \\  i:s  r  Point  Isi.and 


THE  COASTS  OF  THE  FALKLAND  ISLANDS   17 

climb  of  over  a  hundred  yards  to  the  surf,  where 
they  tumble  about  iii  a  most  neck- breaking  fashion. 
Thousands  and  thousands  of  small  penguin  feet  have 
dug  deep  marks  in  the  hard  rocks,  climbing  up  and 
down,  century  after  century.  Quite  struck  with  the 
uncommon  sight,  we  sat  still  to  watch  them,  as  they 
emerged  out  of  the  breakers,  jumped  ashore,  and  started 
their  fatiguing  climb  up  the  cliff,  carefully  putting  their 
little  claws  where  their  ancestors  through  innumerable 
ages  have  put  theirs,  the  road  being  so  narrow  and 
difficult  that  the  penguins  willy-nilly  must  follow  in 
each  other's  footsteps. 

As  I  have  already  mentioned,  the  Falklands  have  no 
indigenous  arboreous  vegetation.  This  was  not  always 
so.  I  am  not  alluding  to  distant  geological  periods 
with  a  plant- world  quite  different  from  that  of  our  era, 
for  even  in  the  epoch  in  which  we  live  there  were  forests 
in  the  Falklands.  With  the  deterioration  of  the  climate 
that  gave  rise  to  the  ice-age  large  tracts  of  austral 
South  America  became  covered  with  a  mighty  ice- cap ; 
hundreds  of  plants  and  animals  died  out  or  migrated 
to  the  north.  This  did  not  take  place  on  the  Falklands. 
They  experienced  the  hard  time  in  another  manner, 
and  there  is  no  trace  of  a  glaciation.  The  weather 
became  more  chilly  and  wet,  and  the  ground  was  so 
saturated  with  moisture  that  it  began  to  shde  away 
downhill,  carrying  with  it  blocks  of  all  sizes  and  shapes. 
The  forest  disappeared,  and  certainly  a  number  of  animals 
and  plants.  When  the  conditions  grew  better  the  moving 
soil  came  to  a  standstill,  the  finer  material,  sand  and 
clay,  was  washed  away  into  the  sea,  but  heaps  of  blocks 


18  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

are  left  in  evidence  of  past  times.  These  are  the  famous 
stone- runs  or  stone- rivers,  that  will  always  rouse  the 
interest  of  the  stranger  as  well  as  the  islander.  Every- 
where these  pecuhar  formations  are  met  with,  forming 
a  network  on  the  slopes  of  the  valleys  or  long  grey 
streams  of  stones  at  the  bottom.  They  constitute  an 
obstacle  to  traffic  quite  as  insurmountable  as  the 
swamps. 

We  had  no  idea  before  our  arrival  at  West  Point 
that  there  had  been  forests  on  the  islands  during  a 
period,  geologically  speaking,  so  near  our  own.  The 
rumour  of  heavy  logs  found  in  the  ground  had  helped 
to  bring  us  there,  though  we  had  been  disposed  to 
attribute  the  find  to  common  driftwood.  There  was 
no  doubt,  however,  that  this  was  the  remains  of  an 
old  forest  of  needle-trees,  well  covered  by  the  old 
shding  soil,  and  we  had  been  lucky  enough  to  make  a 
discovery  of  the  greatest  interest.  Long  afterwards 
"the  kelper"  spoke  of  nothing  but  the  old  forest — 
the  consciousness  of  the  simple  fact  that  there  had  grown 
big  trees  on  his  island  seemed  to  strengthen  his  pride. 

Our  time  was  up.  The  signal-fire  flared,  and  on  "  the 
main"  a  man  with  horses  expected  us.  We  were  to 
experience  a  new  phase  of  Falkland  life — life  on  horse- 
back. 


CHAPTER  II 

RIDING  THROUGH  THE  FALKLANDS 

On  horseback  we  slowly  advanced  along  the  rough,  stony 
northern  slope  of  the  long  peninsula.  Several  hours 
passed.  We  came  close  to  the  house  of  our  guide, 
an  old,  taciturn  Scotsman,  and  stopped  for  a  while  at 
his  invitation.  At  once  his  talkative  wife,  attired  in 
her  best  Sunday  clothes,  served  us  with  whatever  the 
Falklands  can  produce  of  delicious  dishes,  and  we  were 
then  ready  for  a  fresh  start.  What  would  this  country 
be  like  without  horses  ?  All  people  ride,  and  ride  well ; 
it  is  the  only  way  of  travelling  in  the  camp,  where 
roads  are  unknown.  At  first  we  found  it  marvellous 
with  what  agility  the  horses  trotted  along,  climbing 
the  steepest  slopes,  and  struggUng  down  places  that 
appeared  perilous  enough  to  the  inexperienced  rider. 
Sometimes  there  is  danger,  but  soon  one  does  not  think 
of  it,  for  in  ninety- nine  cases  out  of  a  hundred  the  horse 
is  equal  to  the  occasion.  Hour  after  hour  one  rides  in 
the  comfortable  wooden  saddle  without  getting  tired, 
thanks  to  the  soft  sheepskin.  The  wretched  ground 
forces  one  to  walk  or  trot,  and  the  patches  where  one 
can  gallop  one's  horse  are  easily  counted. 

Our  goal  for  the  day  was  Hill  Cove,  one  of  the 
finest  settlements.  With  its  numerous,  friendly- look- 
ing buildings  and  its  beautiful  gardens  it  produces  an 

19 


20  TOE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

uncommonly  agreeable  impression.  Widely  known ' s  the 
"  forest "  of  Hill  Cove.  In  a  little  depression  a  number 
of  northern  trees  are  planted,  mostly  Scotch  fir,  which, 
being  well  sheltered,  seem  to  thrive  very  well.  It  was 
pure  dehght  once  more  to  hear  the  wind  soughing  in 
the  heads  of  the  trees. 

We  were  received  with  the  usual  hospitality,  and  were 
provided  with  horses  and  guides,  in  spite  of  its  being 
the  busiest  time  of  the  year,  when  the  sheep- shearing 
was  on.  Flock  after  flock  was  driven  into  a  paddock, 
and  from  there  to  the  shed,  where  the  thick  white  wool 
was  cut  with  clicking  scissors,  until  one  almost  thought 
one  heard  the  resultant  heavy  golden  sovereigns 
jingling  on  the  floor.  Sheep- farming  is  a  profitable  ?^ 
industry,  and  many  of  the  farmers  are  able  every  year 
to  exchange  the  winter  in  the  Falklands  for  England's 
sunamer. 

The  total  stock  on  a  settlement  is  divided  into  flocks, 
each  watched  by  a  shepherd,  often  a  Scotsman.  He 
lives  out  in  the  camp,  sometimes  far  away  from  other 
human  dwellings,  in  his  snug  little  house,  with  his 
family,  his  dogs,  and  with  good  pay;  he  can  keep  a 
couple  of  cows,  grow  potatoes  and  cabbages,  and  use  as 
much  peat  as  he  needs  for  fuel.  Certainly  his  life  is 
hard  enough  in  summer-time;  there  is  lamb- marking, 
shearing,  and  finally  dipping,  and  no  thought  of  a  rest ; 
but  with  winter  comes  an  easier  life,  when  he  works 
with  his  horse-gear  or  reads  sixpenny  books  and  illus- 
trated papers.  Now  and  then  he  takes  a  ride  round  his 
district,  gives  an  eye  to  the  sheep,  and  sees  that  fences 
and  gates  are  in  order.    We  made  many  friends  amongst 


BIDING  THROUGH  THE  FALKLANDS      21 

the  shepherds,  who  brought  us  safe  through  the 
thousands  of  dangerous  bogs,  offered  us  a  seat  at  their 
table,  and  gave  us  a  bed  without  any  thought  of  pay- 
ment. 

The  land  south  of  Hill  Cove  is  mountainous,  and  a 
few  hours'  ride  brings  us  to  the  foot  of  Mount  Adam, 
2315  feet  high,  the  highest  mountain  in  the  islands, 
and  regarded  as  a  very  Mont  Blanc  by  the  islanders. 
As  no  scientific  observations  had  been  made  there,  we 
resolved  to  make  an  ascent.  From  Hill  Cove  we  had  to 
cross  several  ravines,  but  were  able  to  ride  up  to  the 
summit  itself  without  inconvenience.  Here  we  found 
the  face  of  Nature  very  different  from  what  we  had  been 
accustomed  to !  From  the  mountain- top  we  enjoyed 
a  splendid  view  over  half  West  Falkland,  suggestive  of 
Alpine  landscape,  certainly  very  tame,  but  still  adorned 
by  small  snow- patches,  a  number  of  glittering  mountain- 
lakes,  and  a  few  Alpine  plants.  Here  were  no  sheep,  but 
an  expanse  of  virgin  ground  decked  by  the  hand  of 
Nature.  And  the  weather  !  This  wonderful  everlasting 
April  was  very  gracious  to  us  all  day  long. 

We  did  not  intend  to  stay  long  in  Hill  Cove,  for  the 
schooner  which  was  to  take  us  to  Stanley  might  be 
expected  in  Fox  Bay  before  Christmas,  and  we  had 
several  interesting  places  to  visit.  Our  start,  however, 
was  almost  too  precipitate.  One  of  the  brothers  Benney 
from  Saunders  Island  came  to  the  farm,  and  in  spite  of 
not  having  more  than  an  hour  to  make  ourselves  ready, 
we  made  up  our  minds  to  accept  his  invitation  and  visit 
his  island.  We  trotted  away,  a  party  of  four,  in  order 
to  reach  Eapid  Point,  where  a  boat  was  to  meet  us 


22  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

before  nightfall.  But  we  were  indeed  deceived.  When 
we  reached  the  beach  it  was  already  pitch-dark;  but 
horses  have  cats'  eyes,  and  soon  we  had  a  fine  signal- 
fire  on  a  hill.  After  a  while  the  reply  flashed  forth 
from  the  island,  but  when  the  boat  came  it  proved  too 
small  to  take  us  all,  as  Halle  and  I  were  not  expected. 
As  the  tidal  currents  in  the  channel  are  very  strong, 
we  could  not  be  sure  of  being  fetched  the  same  night. 
We  were  told,  however,  to  wait  for  a  signal — one  flash 
meaning  a  disagreeable  ride,  two  a  boat  journey  to  the 
island.  The  night  was  very  chilly,  but  we  made  our- 
selves as  comfortable  as  possible  with  a  queer  camp- 
fire  of  gigantic  dry  trunks  of  seaweed  {Lessonia),  and 
Mr.  Benney  found  some  tea  and  sugar  in  his  "  maletas  " 
(valise;  many  Spanish  words,  especially  referring  to 
horse- gear,  are  still  used  in  the  islands),  so  we  had 
nothing  to  complain  of.  Midnight  came,  still  no 
message ;  but  at  last  two  flashes  illumined  the  dark- 
ness, and  after  a  while  we  heard  the  longed-for  splash 
of  oars.  We  set  off,  but  as  we  could  hardly  see  our 
hands  before  us,  the  current  took  us  outside  the  reef 
between  Rapid  Point  and  the  island.  The  breakers 
told  us  the  truth,  and  using  all  our  strength  we  managed 
to  reach  the  reef,  jumped  into  the  water,  and  dragged  the 
boat  across.  Before  a  neatly  laid  table  and  some  fat 
mutton  we  soon  forgot  the  adventures  of  the  night. 

Saunders  Island  is  one  of  the  few  places  on  the 
Falklands  to  which  historical  reminiscences  are  attached. 
The  discovery  of  the  islands  took  place  in  1592,  though 
they  may  have  been  sighted  even  before  1520,  but  only 
in  1764  was  the  first  colony  founded  by  the  French, 


RIDING  THROUGH  THE  FALKLANDS      23 

who  settled  in  Port  Louis,  on  the  East  Falklands.  The 
next  year  the  English  appeared  at  Port  Egmont,  and 
built  their  quarters  a  short  distance  from  the  actual 
settlement.  But  soon  Spaniards  from  South  America 
cast  envious  glances  at  the  colony,  and  as  the  enemy 
was  superior  in  numbers  the  fort  at  Port  Egmont  was 
given  up.  Old  cannon-balls  are  still  preserved,  and 
severa  other  relics  such  as  the  foundation- walls  of  the 
fortress,  while  traces  of  extensive  gardens  and  ruins 
of  the  old  settlement  are  still  left.  Later  on  the 
Spaniards  left  the  place,  colonisation  proceeded  once 
more,  but  only  for  a  short  time,  and  in  1774  the  place 
was  abandoned. 

We  had  enjoyed  Falkland  summer  weather  for  several 
days,  but  it  was  not  long  before  it  broke  up.  We  were 
just  on  our  way  back  to  the  mainland  in  a  small  yawl 
when  the  first  squall  came  on  us  like  lightning,  and  within 
half  an  hour  the  sea  was  so  heavy  that  we  were  forced 
to  turn  back  and  had  to  cross  in  a  small  cutter.  The 
narrow  channel  looked  like  a  boiling  cauldron,  as  the 
current  ran  against  wind  and  sea ;  several  times  the 
cutter  refused  to  answer  the  helm,  but  we  managed  at 
last  to  reach  the  mainland,  where  horses  were  once 
more  awaiting  us.  The  rain  poured  down,  the  ground 
was  very  difficult,  wet  and  slippery,  and  progress  very 
slow.  We  passed  the  natural  ruin  of  Castle  Hill, 
crossed  five  rivers,  of  which  the  last  is  the  main  river 
Warrah,  the  others  its  tributaries,  and  reached  a 
shepherd's  house  at  nightfall.  Horses  from  Port 
Howard  met  us  here,  and  early  the  next  morning  we 
again  found  ourselves  in  the  saddle.     We  wanted  to 


24  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

survey  the  valley  of  Warrah  River,  which  is  one  of  the 
largest  streams  in  West  Falkland.  At  that  time  of 
the  year,  however,  it  carried  but  little  water  and  we 
could  cross  without  difficulty.  We  followed  the  barranca, 
which  became  steeper  and  steeper,  necessitating  our 
riding  in  single  file,  with  the  guide  in  front.  Suddenly 
he  stopped  and  shouted  out  a  "  Look  out  here ! " 
Truly  we  could  hardly  see  any  signs  of  a  path ;  a  couple 
of  hundred  feet  below  wound  the  river,  on  our  left  a 
precipitous  wall  rose,  and  the  narrow  way  was  barred 
by  huge  blocks  of  stone.  For  an  instant  the  horses 
seemed  to  hesitate,  groped  among  the  stones,  got  a 
foothold,  took  two  or  three  unsteady  steps,  and  scrambled 
past  the  obstacle.  A  slip,  and  horse  and  rider  would 
have  been  precipitated  into  the  river.  "  Rather  a  nasty 
place,"  our  man  remarked,  and  neither  of  us  found  any 
reason  to  contradict  him. 

We  followed  the  river  down  to  the  place  where  the 
tidal  region  commences,  crossed  it  once  more,  struggled 
a  while  with  the  network  of  a  stone- run,  and  turned 
towards  Port  Howard,  whose  interesting  natural  harbour 
I  would  ask  the  reader  to  study  on  the  map.  Once 
more  we  found  ourselves  in  a  large  and  comfortable 
settlement,  where  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mathews  gave  us  a 
hearty  welcome,  always  ready  to  put  that  question  to 
us  which  we  heard  so  often :  "  What  can  we  do  to 
make  it  comfortable  for  you  and  to  help  you  to  attain 
good  scientific  results  ?  " 

The  bad  weather  continued ;  we  made  our  excursions 
in  storm  and  rain,  walking  about  in  oilskins.  One  day 
we  made  an  ascent  of  Mount  Maria,  one  of  the  highest 


RIDING  THROUGH  THE  FALKLANDS      25 

mountains,  and  only  a  little  lower  than  Mount  Adam. 
But  as  the  ground  is  uncommonly  bad,  the  slope  being 
one  extensive  network  of  stone- runs,  we  had  to  travel 
on  foot.  The  rain  poured  down  as  we  climbed  along, 
and  suddenly  we  found  ourselves  enveloped  in  a  fog  so 
dense  and  white  that  the  view  was  shut  ofi  in  all  direc- 
tions. It  was  certainly  more  by  good  luck  than  by 
good  judgment  that  we  walked  straight  on  to  the  little 
cairn  at  the  summit. 

Our  stay  in  Port  Howard  yielded  very  good  results, 
and  with  regret  we  said  good-bye  to  our  hosts,  jumped 
into  the  saddle,  and  headed  for  Fox  Bay  on  the  south 
coast.  We  were  accompanied  by  the  mail- carrier. 
After  a  long  and  tiresome  ride  we  reached  our  goal. 
Here  lives  the  doctor  of  West  Falkland ;  on  the  occasion 
of  our  visit  the  position  was  held  by  Dr.  Bolus,  who 
received  us  with  the  utmost  courtesy  and  kindness. 
This  young  doctor  was  a  good  all-round  man,  for  besides 
his  proper  duties  he  fulfilled  those  of  custom  officer, 
poHceman,  postmaster,  and  public  registrar.  Being  a 
spirited  fellow  who  rides  alone  by  day  or  night  in  any 
weather,  he  had  many  tales  to  tell  of  hazardous  rides, 
when  snow  covered  the  dangerous  bogs ;  how  he  reached 
the  western  sea-shore,  jumped  into  an  ice- clad  boat, 
and  struggled  through  storm  and  mist  to  one  or  other 
of  the  outlying  islands,  where  a  fellow  creature  lay 
wrestHng  with  death. 

Meanwhile  the  Lafonia  lingered.  We  had  already 
made  ourselves  familiar  with  the  thought  of  celebrating 
Christmas  Eve  with  Dr.  Bolus  and  his  wife — it  did  not 
cause  any  mental  struggle,  as  we  could  hardly  have  been 


26  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

better  ofi  than  in  their  cosy  home — when  on  the 
afternoon  of  December  22  the  schooner  entered  the 
narrow  creek.  It  brought  us  our  mail,  and,  from  the 
consulate  in  Port  Stanley,  the  news  of  King  Oscar's 
death.  And  down  here,  in  a  remote  corner  of  the 
Falklands,  two  blue  and  yellow  flags  were  hoisted,  half- 
mast,  on  the  doctor's  house  and  on  the  little  schooner. 
The  next  morning  the  Lafonia  weighed  anchor.  The 
wind  was  north-easterly,  a  rather  uncommon  occurrence, 
and  with  some  misgivings  we  regarded  the  approaching 
Christmas  Day.  I  believe  that  we  never  experienced 
anything  like  it.  The  small  schooner  rolled  incessantly 
with  a  hard  wind  and  heavy  sea;  we  ran  short  of 
provisions,  and  there  were  no  possibilities  to  raise  our 
spirits. 

Gnawing  at  the  last  mutton- bones,  we  arrived  in 
Stanley  in  the  evening  of  Boxing  Day,  but  found  the 
capital  empty.  In  a  deluge  of  rain  horseraces  took 
place  outside  the  town,  and  of  course  all  the  inhabitants 
had  placed  themselves  under  their  umbrellas.  But  we 
stayed  at  home  and  ate,  quickly,  but  heartily.  Thus 
Christmas  passed,  and  1907  was  soon  only  a  memory. 
We  sat  up  to  see  the  New  Year  in  with  some  of  our 
English  friends,  who  did  all  they  could  to  make  us  feel 
at  home.  And  warmed  by  their  friendship  we  almost 
forgot  that  we  were  far  away  from  our  homes  and 
everything  dear  to  us. 

We  did  not  intend  to  stop  long  in  Stanley,  as  the  time 
had  come  to  survey  East  Falkland.  We  had  done 
but  little  there,  and  the  most  interesting  part  was  still 
left.    As  soon  as  a  schooner  was  ready,  Halle  went  to 


RIDING  THROUGH  THE  FALKLANDS      27 

Port  Darwin,  in  Choiseul  Sound ;  I  had  to  complete  my 
studies  in  the  vicinity  of  Stanley.  The  camp  revelled 
in  the  beauty  of  summer — everything  in  this  world  is 
a  matter  of  comparison! — and  the  life  on  the  rocks 
round  the  lighthouse  once  more  attracted  me.  But  Halle 
sent  a  message  telling  of  great  geological  discoveries, 
and  on  January  14  I  went  on  board  the  Lafonia,  which 
could  thus  hoist  the  Swedish  colours  alongside  of  the 
EngUsh  once  more.  We  came  out  through  Port 
Williams  all  right,  and  also  passed  the  tussock- islands, 
where  the  sea-Hons  lay  snoring.  From  there  we  had  a 
miserable  run,  having  to  beat  all  the  way  down,  and  did 
not  arrive  at  Darwin  until  late  the  next  day. 

The  south  part  of  East  Falkland,  south  of  Wickham 
Heights,  does  not  differ  much  from  the  rest  of  the 
island  in  appearance.  With  the  exception  of  a  very 
doubtful  find  on  Speedwell  Island,  nothing  indicated  that 
layers  younger  than  Devonian  would  occur  on  the  vX 
islands.  Halle's  discovery  that  the  whole  south  part 
of  East  Falkland,  generally  called  Lafonia,  belongs  to  a 
younger  period,  viz.,  the  Permo-carbonian,  was  thus  of 
great  interest,  and  in  several  places  he  made  beautiful  and 
valuable  collections  of  the  fossilised  remains  of  plants 
(Glossopteris)  which  had  once  spread  their  shadow 
over  the  Falkland  soil.  Lafonia  is  owned  by  the  Falk- 
land Islands  Company,  and  about  200,000  sheep  graze 
on  the  undulating  plains.  We  found  here  the  largest 
pampas- like  spots  I  ever  saw  in  the  islands,  and  enjoyed 
being  able  to  travel  at  a  fair  speed.  Otherwise  the 
camp  was  more  or  less  the  same  as  usual — the  same 
winding  creeks,  that  appear  in  the  middle  of  the  country 


28  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

when  you  do  not  at  all  expect  them,  forcing  you  to 
make  a  long  detour,  the  same  streams  slowly  creeping 
through  the  treacherous  peat,  sometimes  impassable, 
and  always  difficult  to  cross  on  horseback. 

The  coast,  of  course,  is  as  charming  as  ever  with  its 
rich  bird-life,  flocks  of  many  coloured  geese  {Chlo'epJiaCja), 
red-legged  gulls  {Larus  Scoresbyi),  flapping  shags,  and  a 
long  row  of  squeaking  waders ;  and  its  cliffs  with  guano 
and  white  rocks,  sculptured  by  the  waves  into  fantastic 
forms  and  tunnels. 

Darwin  Harbour  is  the  camp  centre  of  the  F.LC. 
It  is  the  next  largest  settlement,  with  about  seventy  or 
eighty  inhabitants,  and  boasts  of  a  good  store,  a  school, 
and  also  a  doctor. 

When  we  had  crossed  Lafonia  in  all  directions  we 
wanted  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  west  coast.  Several  days 
of  heavy  rain  had  soaked  the  camp  and  delayed  our 
start,  but  finally  we  were  able  to  set  out,  accompanied 
by  Dr.  Foley,  who  kindly  acted  as  our  guide.  We  soon 
left  the  plains  and  reached  the  usual  broken  ground; 
the  wind  was  biting  cold,  and  now  and  then  a  wet  squall 
paid  us  its  attention.  Suddenly  a  long  creek  appeared ; 
it  was  Port  Sussex.  The  tide  was  out,  and  our  horses 
splashed  across  cheerfully,  making  deep  imprints  in 
the  smooth  mud.  Carefully  they  climbed  the  stony 
barranca  on  the  other  side;  as  they  were  not  shod 
they  hated  stony  places,  and  peered  to  right  and  left  in 
order  to  see  if  there  was  no  chance  of  breaking  out.  The 
doctor  had  pointed  out  a  rock  high  up  on  the  grey 
quartzite  ridge;  that  was  our  landmark.  The  ascent 
was  troublesome;  the  ground  had  become  covered  by 


1 


RIDING  THROUGH  THE  FALKLANDS       29 

loose  peat  and  the  horses  began  to  get  tired.  On  the  top 
of  one  of  the  ridges  we  met  with  a  critical  passage, 
for  which  the  doctor  had  abeady  prepared  us ;  a  place 
where  the  pure  peat,  brown  and  loose,  was  exposed. 
At  the  edge  the  horses  stopped  with  firm  resolution, 
and  we  could  read  in  their  faces  a  "  No,  sir,  that's 
enough."  We  dismounted,  grasped  the  long  cabresta 
(halter- strap)  and  pulled  away.  Absolute  refusal;  we 
pulled  each  at  his  end,  the  horse  and  I,  and  the  stronger 
won.  Then  the  lashes  hailed  down  on  the  back  of  the 
insubordinate  creature,  it  took  a  desperate  jump,  lay 
kicking  and  struggling  in  the  black  mud,  and  finally 
gained  firm  ground.  We  had  passed  the  crest  of  Wick- 
ham  Heights,  and  rode  down  a  series  of  slopes  to  San 
Carlos  South,  a  farm  where  the  doctor  was  to  vaccinate 
some  children.  As  soon  as  he  was  ready,  we  started 
again.  Night  was  coming  on,  and  we  neared  our 
goal,  the  San  Carlos  valley,  where  the  largest  river 
of  East  Falkland  winds  its  way  along,  deep  and  rapid. 
On  the  other  side  sharp  crests  rise,  and  at  their  foot 
we  sighted  the  settlement,  San  Carlos  North,  where  we 
were  received  with  the  same  kindness  as  ever.  The  next 
day  we  returned  to  Darwin.  I  was  anxious  to  return 
to  Stanley,  but  delayed  my  departure  as  long  as  possible, 
as  I  wanted  to  make  an  ascent  of  Mount  Usborne,  the 
highest  mountain  in  East  Falkland.  But  the  rainy 
season  would  not  come  to  an  end,  and  finally  I  had  to 
leave  for  the  town.  This  time  I  took  the  route  over- 
land. I  asked  Halle  if  possible  to  climb  the  mountain 
and  make  some  observations  for  me,  and  as  he  was  able 
to  fulfil  his  mission  I  had  no  reason  to  complain. 


30  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

The  track  to  Port  Stanley  follows  the  southern  slope 
of  Wickham  Heights.  It  is  one  of  the  very  worst  in 
the  islands  (especially  after  a  long  rain  Hke  the  one  we 
had  experienced),  and  near  the  town  stone- runs  appear 
with  dangerous  holes,  covered  by  vegetation.  We 
changed  horses  twice,  and  easily  covered  the  distance, 
about  sixty  miles,  in  two  days.  Covered  with  mud  and 
soaked  to  the  skin,  I  rode  into  the  town  on  February  1. 
Only  twelve  days  were  left  till  the  day  when  the  mail- 
steamer  for  Punta  Arenas  was  due,  and  much  work 
had  still  to  be  done.  Amongst  other  things  I  would  not 
willingly  leave  the  islands  without  paying  a  visit  to 
Port  Louis,  where  J.  G.  Andersson  and  myseK  had 
lived  some  time  during  the  winter  of  1902.  Port  Louis  ^ 
is  the  classical  ground  of  the  Falklands.  Here  lie  the 
ruins  of  the  old  settlement;  here  Charles  Darwin 
strolled  about;  here  J.  D.  Hooker  collected  materials 
for  his  famous  "  Flora  Antarctica  "  ;  heietheCJiaUenger 
was  anchored.  All  these  memories  crowd  upon  the  mind 
of  a  naturahst  of  to-day  and  cast  a  halo  round  the  brown, 
desolate  heath. 

Several  historic  ruins  are  left  in  Port  Louis.  Here 
in  1764  the  first  settlement  was  estabhshed  by  the 
French;  a  few  years  later  Spain  took  possession  of  it, 
but  probably  withdrew  the  garrison  before  1780.  In 
1820  the  captain  of  a  vessel  took  possession  of  the 
islands  for  the  Government  of  Buenos  Aires,  but  in 
1833  a  British  man-of-war  was  sent  to  enforce  England's  / 
rights,  and  since  1843  the  Falklands  have  been  con- 
stituted a  Crown  colony.  For  further  details  I  refer  the 
reader  to  Darwm'a  journals,  as  well  as  to  a  paper  read 


RIDING  .THROUGH  THE  FALKLANDS      31 


'jt 


by  the  present  governor,  Mr.  W.  L.  Allardyce,  C.M.G., 
at  the  meeting  of  the  Royal  Colonial  Institute,  March  22, 
1910.  During  the  last  days  of  our  stay  in  Port  Stanley 
everybody  was  walking  about  rife  with  expectation. 
A  man-of-war,  H.M.S.  Sappho,  was  due,  and  from  the 
camp  the  young  ladies  came  to  the  town  prepared  for 
a  dance  or  a  picnic.  Some  years  ago  a  man-of-war 
used  to  be  stationed  in  Stanley  for  several  months 
every  year,  and  opposite  the  town  expensive  construc- 
tions were  made,  a  dock  was  built,  and  large  coal-shed«' 
erected.  But  hardly  was  it  ready  when  the  whole 
scheme  was  abandoned,  even  the  stationed  vessel  being 
withdra^vn,  much  to  the  grief  of  the  Stanley  girls. 

At  last  the  Sappho  came,  but  by  this  time  our  period 
of  rest  had  nearly  elapsed.  Halle  returned  from  Darwin, 
we  had  to  prepare  our  heavy  luggage,  and  when  the 
Oronsa  let  her  sonorous  voice  be  heard  she  found  us 
ready.  On  February  12,  a  bright  summer  day,  the 
barren  coasts  of  the  Falkland  Islands  disappeared  from 
our  sight — perhaps  for  ever. 

The  big  steamer  hastened  westward,  and  soon  the 
lights  at  the  Magellan  Straits  twinkled  in  the  twilight. 
As  we  approached  Punta  Arenas  the  sky  shone  bright 
red,  and  with  the  glasses  we  soon  found  out  the  reason : 
the  forest  south  of  the  town  was  on  fire;  it  made  a 
mighty  hghthouse  that  showed  us  the  way  to  the  roads, 
where  we  anchored  at  1  a.m.  on  February  14. 


CHAPTER  III 

IN  TIERRA  DEL  FUEGO 

In  front  of  us  stretches  the  long,  yellow,  sandy  sea- shore, 
with  slender  jetties  running  far  out  into  the  shallow 
water;  in  the  background  rises  the  land,  with  forest- clad 
ridges  and  hills.  Between  the  forests  and  the  sea 
extends  Punta  Arenas,  the  town  of  the  Magellan  ^ 
territories,  a  good  type  of  mushroom  city  with  a  startHng 
story  of  development  behind  it.  In  the  last  ten  years  . 
its  population  has  greatly  increased,  and  more  than 
12,000  people  now  have  their  home  there — Chileans 
and  Spaniards,  Germans  and  Enghshmen,  Frenchmen  ^ 
and  ItaUans,  Swedes,  Norwegians,  Danes,  Russians, 
Austrians — a  babel  of  tongues.  Pretentious  stone 
buildings,  interspersed  with  corrugated- iron  houses, 
dozens  of  hotels  and  American  bars,  howHng  gramo- 
phones, the  rattling  of  cocktails  in  the  mixing — that  is 
the  first  impression.  We  take  up  our  quarters  in  the 
traditional  retreat  for  Swedish  scientists,  the  Kosmos 
Hotel,  a  low,  white- plastered  building  on  the  sandy 
beach. 

We  now  found  ourselves  under  changed  conditions 
and  with  a  starting-point  for  our  work  where  we  knew 
nobody  and  where  we  had  to  do  with  authorities 
speaking  a  language  not  very  familiar  to  us.  I  had 
aknosfc  expected  that  Quensel  would  be  back  from  his 

32 


•»t. 


The  Roads  of  Punta  Arknas,  south-wester  blowing. 


i^  :.ZiS 


.jii?^' 


^♦^    I  ■ 


ir^  X 


.^f,.rr! 


■■■I 


Punta  Arenas  from   ihk  IIii.i.s. 


IN  TIERKA  DEL  FUEGO  33 

aurvey  of  the  interior  of  South  Patagonia,  but  there 
was  not  even  a  message  from  him.  Neither  had  we 
received  any  reply  from  the  Chilean  Government,  and 
the  entire  future  of  our  expedition  would  possibly 
depend  upon  their  answer.  So  we  started  at  once  with 
short  excursions  in  the  neighbourhood;  Halle  found  a 
vast  field  for  work  in  the  coal-mines  in  the  narrow  valley 
of  Rio  de  las  Minas.  A  few  days  after  our  arrival 
we  had  just  returned  home  when  our  landlord,  the  ever 
kindly  and  good-humoured  Brockow,  told  us  that  a 
Swedish  gentleman  had  just  arrived  and  wanted  to 
make  our  acquaintance.  Judge  of  my  astonishment 
when  we  found  him  to  be  the  highest  representative 
of  Sweden  in  Chile,  Consul- General  A.  Lowenborg, 
who  had  employed  a  short  period  of  leisure  in  running 
down  to  Punta  Arenas  in  order  to  welcome  us  and  render 
us  assistance  in  our  deahngs  with  the  authorities.  I 
know  that  if  I  now  tell  him  that  we  shall  never  be  able 
to  thank  him  sufficiently  for  all  he  did  for  our  expedition 
during  its  work  in  South  America,  or  for  the  hearty 
personal  friendship  he  showed  us,  I  do  not  say  too  much. 

Now  we  could  begin  preparations  for  our  first  excur- 
sion in  real  earnest.  The  governor  of  the  territory, 
Senor  Chaigneau,  received  us  with  great  courtesy,  and 
Mr.  Lowenborg  brought  the  answer  from  the  Government 
that  the  naval  station  in  Punta  Arenas  had  already 
received  orders  to  do  everything  possible  to  promote 
our  success.  The  chief,  Rear-Admiral  B.  Rojas,  put 
the  snxall  steamer  Huemul  at  our  disposal  for  the  first 
voyage — to  Admiralty  Inlet,  m  Tierra  del  Fuego. 

These  preparations  having  been  made,  we  completed 


34  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

our  party.  We  were  sitting  at  the  dinner- table  one 
evening  when  a  wild,  red- bearded  camp- man  entered 
the  dining-room  in  the  Kosmos ;  it  was  Quensel ;  and 
we  instantly  followed  him  out  to  the  courtyard,  where 
his  servant  for  the  summer,  the  German  Albert  Pagels, 
was  busy  unsaddHng  the  horses.  In  the  most  glowing 
terms  they  gave  us  a  brief  description  of  their  travels 
in  the  most  remote  part  of  the  South  Patagonian  Alps, 
so  prolific  in  results  that  from  that  moment  I  longed 
to  go  there  myself,  but  entertained  Httle  or  no  hope  of 
being  able  to  do  so,  as  this  lay  beyond  our  original 
scheme. 

Now  we  could  make  ready.  The  horses  were  sent  to 
a  paddock,  we  bought  hay,  maize,  and  provisions,  and 
looked  over  and  completed  our  equipment;  for  once 
alone  in  a  virgin  country  nothing  could  be  procured. 
When  I  had  discussed  Pagels'  qualifications  with  Quensel, 
I  engaged  him  for  the  trip,  and  asked  him  to  bring  another 
man  with  him,  and  as  a  result  a  fellow  with  the  not 
particularly  uncommon  name  of  Miiller  joined  our 
party. 

Now  follows  a  hurry  and  a  scurry  and  a  sorting  of  half- 
packed  boxes !  Is  nothing  forgotten  ?  The  Huemul 
is  waiting  at  one  of  the  jetties,  the  last  nails  are  driven 
into  the  lids  of  our  boxes,  and  finally  the  cart  jolts 
over  the  bumpy  streets  of  Punta  Arenas.  All  of  us 
work  like  niggers ;  bags  of  maize,  bales  of  hay,  and  boxes 
of  all  shapes  and  sizes  are  taken  on  board.  Now  only 
the  most  difficult  affair  is  left — the  embarkation  of  the 
horses.  We  tried  various  devices,  but  at  last  found 
that  the  only  way  was  to  use  the  derrick  on  the  jetty. 


IN  TIERRA  DEL  FUEGO  35 

A  lifebelt  of  special  construction  was  employed,  and 
wild  with  terror  the  animals  were  hauled  swinging  and 
kicking  high  up  in  the  air,  to  land  safe  and  sound  on 
deck.  We  felt  easy  when  all  four  had  been  transferred, 
but  there  was  not  much  left  of  the  limited  deck  space. 
As  Punta  Arenas  is  a  town  full  of  temptations,  we 
went  on  board  in  the  evening  in  order  to  be  quite  sure 
of  getting  off  early  the  next  morning.  At  daybreak, 
February  25,  our  vessel  left  the  roadstead.  Our 
first  visit  was  to  Dawson  Island,  where  the  Roman 
Cathohc  Salesian  mission  station  has  long  been  estab- 
lished. They  have  partly  converted  the  land  into  a 
sheep- farm,  with  Indians  as  labourers.  The  station  in 
Harris  Bay  is  an  imposing  collection  of  buildings. 
We  went  on  shore,  and  were  very  well  received  by  the 
missionary,  a  stout  and  shining  padre.  He  had  already 
found  time  to  send  the  boys  to  make  themselves  present- 
able, and  they  appeared  in  more  or  less  queer  dresses, 
but  looking  rather  well-brought-up.  Few  of  them 
were  pure  Indians:  mostly  they  betrayed  a  rather 
mixed  origin,  a  fact  perhaps  somewhat  remarkable  at  a 
mission  station !  Under  the  guidance  of  the  missionary 
we  went  round  the  place,  inspecting  the  church  bedecked 
with  cheap  finery,  the  school,  the  small  saw- mill,  and 
so  on.  Certainly  they  have  seen  to  it  that  the  hitherto 
empty  life  of  the  natives  shall  find  a  real  object  and 
meaning.  One  thing,  however,  is  of  little  account — 
the  Indians  themselves.  According  to  what  the  bishop 
in  Punta  Arenas,  Monseuor  Fagnano,  told  me,  there  are 
only  forty-five  in  the  station,  most  of  them  Onas,  but 
there  are  also  some   Yahgans  and  Alookoloop.     The 


36  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

number  is  gradually  diminishing.  It  is  the  old  story; 
the  natives  are  subdued  or  won  over,  put  into  clothes, 
forced  to  live  in  houses,  and  turned  into  labourers; 
in  some  cases  perhaps  their  hfe  gets  easier,  but  with 
the  kind  of  civilization  imposed  on  them,  absurd  and 
more  than  shallow,  there  follow  diseases  and  a  misery 
unknown  before.  What  the  naked  Indians  can  stand 
is  too  much  for  Indians  in  European  clothes ;  they  pine 
away  and  die  in  "  the  true  faith."  But  perhaps  there 
dwells  in  the  depths  of  their  expiring  souls  a  question 
never  uttered :  "  What  have  we  done  that  we  should  be 
taken  away  from  our  land,  that  we  should  be  exter- 
minated from  the  face  of  earth  ?  "  How  many  of  them 
there  are  who  really  consider  themselves  indemnified 
by  the  liberal  and,  alas!  cheap  promises  of  a  place 
in  the  special  heaven  of  the  Church  that  "rescued" 
them  I  cannot  tell.  But  how  men  can  imagine  that  by 
putting  people  whose  mental  life  has  proved  to  be  so 
little  developed  and  so  utterly  different  from  our  own 
on  the  seats  in  church  and  in  school  they  can  be  got  to 
grasp  those  intricate  dogmas  that  have  caused  and  still 
cause  so  much  hatred  and  dissension  amongst  our- 
selves— that  I  confess  myself  unable  to  understand. 
I  should,  indeed,  like  to  hear  a  religious  dispute  between 
a  Lutheran  and  a  Catholic  Ona- Indian! 

To-day  there  is  much  spoken  and  written  about  the 
necessity  of  preserving  natm'al  scenery,  rare  animals, 
(fcc,  and  all  naturalists  encourage  the  general  tendency 
which  has  akeady  evoked  special  laws  in  various 
States.  But  we  seem  to  think  more  of  remarkable 
animals  than  of  human  races.    Could  we  not  at  least 


IN  TIERRA  DEL  FUEGO  37 

refrain  from  directly  preventing  the  continued  existence 
of  interesting  forms  of  Homo  sapiens  ? 

Most  of  the  male  inhabitants  of  Dawson  Island  were 
away  working  in  the  camp,  and  we  only  saw  some  sick 
or  feeble  ones,  who  were  seated  outside  their  doors 
making  Indian  curiosities,  to  be  sold  by  the  missionaries 
in  Punta  Arenas.  In  a  special  house  the  women  were 
occupied  in  spinning.  The  camera  was  famihar  to 
them  aU,  and  with  the  aid  of  the  missionary  I  was  able 
to  take  a  group,  but  it  was  more  difficult  to  obtain 
permission  to  snap  them  in  the  costume  of  Adam. 
However,  I  managed  to  take  photographs  of  an  old 
married  couple  of  Alookoloop,  but  they  anxiously 
asked  me  not  to  show  them  to  anybody.  Cuisc-shiku- 
toreluk- seise,  my  good  fellow,  your  brown  skin  still 
glistened  under  the  miserable  rags  you  wore,  besmeared 
as  it  was  with  stinking  grease,  that  called  forth  old 
remembrances  !  Have  you  then  forgotten  that  you  are 
baptized  and  call  yourself  Brasito  and  that  it  is  strictly 
forbidden  to  practise  such  uncivilized  customs  ? 

I  asked  them  in  Spanish,  a  language  their  tongues 
convert  into  a  scarcely  intelHgible  lingo,  how  their  lives 
pleased  them  and  where  they  came  from.  "  She  comes 
from  afar,"  the  husband  says,  pointing  to  his  wife. 
"  From  the  channels  far  west?  "  She  nods  assent,  and 
adds :  "  There  we  were  so  many,  so  many,  and  now" — 
her  voice  expresses  desperation  and  helplessness — 
"  all  dead,  all  dead !  .  .  ." 

But  all  round  us  in  the  forest  dozens  of  images  and 
pictures  of  saints  bear  witness  to  the  triumph  of  Christian 
civilization. 


38  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

A  fresh  breeze  met  us  when  we  steamed  out  of  the 
mission  bay,  and  the  Huemul  rolled  with  might 
and  main.  Our  horses  had  some  very  disagreeable 
hours;  they  were  not  far  from  falling  overboard, 
or  at  least  getting  injured.  After  a  short  con- 
sultation we  resolved  to  seek  shelter  from  the  rapidly 
increasing  gale.  There  are  very  few  harbours  in 
Admiralty  Inlet,  and  probably  none  better  than  Puerto 
Gomez,  where  we  anchored;  a  true  Fuegian  cove, 
with  the  water- soaked  virgin  forest  coming  down  to 
the  water's  edge,  with  steep,  wooded  ridges  all  round  and 
snowy  peaks  in  the  background.  The  autumn  scarcely 
shows  its  presence  here,  only  the  grass  on  the  beach 
is  more  yellow  than  usual,  but  the  forest  itself  stands 
as  fresh  and  green  as  ever,  even  if  the  few  flowers  are 
still  fewer.  That  day  the  winter  sent  us  its  first  warn- 
ings, and  we  awoke  to  a  splendid  though  hardly  welcome 
sight :  the  summits  shining  white,  the  ridges  powdered 
with  snow,  and  a  light  cover  on  the  branches  of  the 
evergreens  down  by  the  beach.  But  the  squalls 
grew  less  frequent,  the  sun  spread  broader  and  broader 
golden  stripes  over  the  bank  of  clouds,  and  once  more 
we  tried  our  fortune  afloat.  Halle  and  I  inhaled  this 
fresh  atmosphere  in  deep  draughts.  The  enviable 
Quensel  had  just  come  from  Payne,  but  we  who  saw  only 
dirty  colours  in  the  Falklands  thoroughly  enjoyed 
the  black  mountains,  the  white  snow,  and  the  bluish 
ice  of  the  glaciers.  Farther  and  farther  into  the  deep 
fiord  we  steamed,  the  momitains  closed  round  us  on 
each  side,  and  in  the  innermost  corner,  called  Hope  Bay 
on  the  Admiralty  chart,  a  pretty  place  where  deciduous- 


Back  i-rom  thk  Hktbeder  Pass. 

SKOTTSIiERG    IN    MIlim.E,    c,)UENSEl,   TO    LEK  r,    I'AGELS   TO    KIGHT. 


t1 


I.MJIA.N.T    Al     nil-,    DaWmj.N     Mi,>.^1ii.N    SiAIIdN. 


IN  TIERRA  DEL  FUEGO  39 

leaved  forest  patches  shimmer  in  the  first  crimson  of 
aiitmnn,  the  Huemul  anchored. 

First  we  had  to  bring  the  horses  ashore.  Here  luck 
helped  us  in  a  peculiar  manner.  Outside  Dawson 
Island  we  found  a  lighter  adrift,  a  runaway  from  Punta 
Arenas,  and  it  came  as  though  sent  on  purpose.  The 
animals  were  lowered  down  from  the  davits,  once  more 
half  dead  with  fright,  but  soon  recovered  when  they 
found  the  good  pasture  along  the  shore.  Our  equipment 
was  put  in  a  heap  on  the  shingle,  and  we  set  out  to  look 
for  a  comfortable  camping- place,  and  soon  found  an 
inviting  corner  on  the  edge  of  the  wood.  Instantly  we 
pitched  our  tents  and  hoisted  our  little  Swedish  flag. 
At  the  request  of  our  friend  Captain  Mayer  we  returned 
on  board,  had  our  dinner  with  the  officers,  and  slept 
there.  Early  on  the  28th  the  Huemul  steamed  out  of 
the  bay,  hooted  us  a  good-bye,  and  was  soon  out  of  sight. 
We  were  left  to  ourselves  for  a  month. 

But  we  had  not  yet  reached  our  goal.  Towards  the 
east  we  had  to  follow  the  valley  of  Rio  Azopardo,  and 
there,  behind  the  woods,  is  the  big  lake,  Lago  Fagnano.  ^ 
The  distance  is  only  eight  miles,  but  these  few  miles 
have  a  very  bad  reputation.  Some  remarks  on  ex- 
plorations prior  to  our  own  might  be  mentioned 
here.  The  first  proper  description  of  the  lake  and 
its  surroundings  we  owe  to  the  well-known  Boundary 
Commission  of  Chile  and  Argentina,  which  finished  its 
work  here  in  1895,  and  had  then  erected  a  cairn  at  each 
edge  of  the  lake  to  indicate  the  boundary- line;  the 
members  had  also  effected  some  boat- journeys  and  had 
constructed  a  map.     The  natural  history  still  remained 


40  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

uiiknown,  and  the  Swedish  expedition  in  1896  under 
0.  Nordenskjold  resolved  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  big  lake. 
He  and  his  companions  had  their  encampment  not 
very  far  from  ours,  and  we  found  some  traces  left  by  them 
and  others  of  the  Boundary  Commission;  especially  a 
wooden  corral,  which  we  put  in  order  and  used  our- 
selves. 

Nordenskjold  was  only  provided  with  food  for  a 
fortnight ;  he  brought  many  people  with  him,  and  a 
rather  big  boat,  intended  for  the  navigation  of  the  Rio 
Azopardo.  This,  however,  proved  impossible,  and  he 
was  never  able  to  make  a  camp  on  the  lake.  Accom- 
panied by  one  man,  he  made  an  excursion  on  foot, 
crossed  the  valley  of  Eio  Betbeder,  and  saw  from  the 
slope  of  a  mountain,  probably  Cerro  Verde,  that  a  pass 
over  the  main  ridge,  called  Sierra  Valdivieso  on  the 
Chilean  map,  very  likely  existed.  The  pass  itself  can 
hardly  have  been  visible  from  the  spot  where  he  stood. 
Of  the  nature  of  the  lake  this  expedition  has  very  little 
to  tell :   Nordenskjold  alone  got  close  to  it. 

In  October  1902  J.  G.  Andersson,  well  known  as  a 
member  of  the  Swedish  Antarctic  Expedition  and  the 
leader  of  its  winter- journeys,  managed  to  reach  the  eastern 
end  of  the  lake,  using  a  road  cut  through  the  forest 
by  the  brothers  Bridges  of  Harberton,  a  track  that  united 
their  vast  camp  at  the  Beagle  Channel  with  that  on  the 
Atlantic  coast.  He  brought  a  small  canvas  boat  and  made 
some  zoological  collections  from  the  lake,  but  everything 
got  lost  in  the  shipwreck  of  the  Antarctic,  in  February 
1903.  Consequently  we  had  an  open  field  for  work; 
but  time  was  valuable,  as  the  winter  might  come  any 


IN  TIEEEA  DEL  FUEGO  41 

day.  I  think  that  antiimn  is  the  best  season  for  travel- 
h'ng  in  the  interior  of  Tierra  del  Fuego;  summer  has 
dried  the  innumerable  bogs  and  made  them  to  some 
extent  passable,  and  the  rivers,  that  all  come  from  the 
eternal  ice  and  snow,  do  not  carry  as  much  water  as 
they  do  earlier  in  the  year. 

We  set  to  work  without  a  moment's  delay.  One  of 
the  officers  on  board  the  Huemul  had  told  us  that  some 
of  those  indefatigable  prospectors  had  left  some  sheep 
on  a  small  island  not  far  from  our  camp,  and  we  sent 
Pagels  there  with  our  canvas  boat  (on  the  Berthon 
system),  which  was  now  launched  for  the  first  time. 
Miiller  was  left  at  the  tents,  and  we  started  on  foot  up 
the  Azopardo  valley  in  order  to  survey  a  suitable  track 
for  the  horses.  We  only  carried  a  couple  of  ship's 
biscuits  each  for  provisions.  The  first  mile  did  not  look 
very  bad.  It  was,  however,  impossible  to  follow  the 
bank  of  the  river,  as  it  is  covered  by  an  ahnost  impene- 
trable brushwood  of  Nothofagus  antarctica,  one  of  the 
Antarctic  beeches  (nire).  We  followed  the  slopes  of  a 
mountain- ridge  south  of  the  valley;  sometimes  the  ground 
seemed  very  dry  and  firm,  sometimes  we  had  to  walk 
knee- deep  through  red  and  greenish- white  peat-moss. 
Now  and  then  we  came  across  a  forest  patch  where  we 
had  a  hard  struggle  with  innumerable  fallen  trunks, 
marshy  places,  and  thorny  bushes.  But  we  thought 
that  an  axe  might  open  a  way  for  horses,  especially 
along  the  guanaco  tracks.  Arriving  at  the  top  of  a 
hill,  we  stopped  in  mute  admiration.  There  between 
steep  mountain- chains  we  beheld  for  the  first  time 
La  go  Fagnano  in  the  far  east,  melting  together  with 


42  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

sky  and  mountains  in  a  blue  haze.  It  was  still  early 
in  the  day,  and  in  spite  of  our  meagre  supply  of  pro- 
visions we  resolved  to  continue  our  march  down  to 
the  lake.  And  we  had  good  luck.  We  were  just 
cHmbing  the  barranca  of  Rio  Mascarello  when  we 
discovered  a  guanaco  not  more  than  ninety  feet  from 
us,  grazing  in  unconscious  security.  We  had  not  been 
observed,  and  a  ball  from  our  Winchester  sent  it  into 
eternity.  The  meat  was  certainly  very  welcome.  We 
had  counted  on  living  upon  game,  and  had  only  brought 
some  preserved  meat  for  excursions.  The  big  steaks 
were  greeted  with  applause;  one  piece  we  put  in  a 
knapsack  for  dinner,  and  the  rest  was  fixed  on  a  tree 
out  of  reach  of  foxes  and  birds. 

The  guanaco  (Auchenia  huanaco)  is  closely  related  to 
the  lama.  When  with  straightened  neck  it  slowly  turns 
its  small,  elegant  head,  pricks  up  its  ears,  scenting  danger, 
it  makes  a  very  pleasing  impression  of  something  at 
the  same  time  strong,  swift,  and  graceful.  The  nose 
is  grey,  the  back  covered  with  a  reddish-brown  wool, 
the  throat  and  belly  white.  The  thighs  are  red- brown, 
the  legs  white.  Smaller  or  larger  herds  wander  about  in 
Tierra  del  Fuego  and  Patagonia,  mostly  on  the  pampas, 
but  also  at  the  edge  of  the  forest- zone  on  the  slopes  of 
the  Cordillera,  where  green  patches  and  rich  Alpine 
meadows  are  their  favourite  grounds. 

We  had  already  passed  several  "  pantanos "  (peat- 
bogs), with  red,  swelling  tussocks  sharply  contrasting 
with  the  dark- green  forest  patches,  but  we  now  came 
to  that  part  of  the  valley  where  all  the  open  spaces 
are  filled  with  marshy  ground.     We  could  cross  all  right 


IN  TIERKA  DEL  FUEGO  43 

if  we  chose  our  way,  but  we  at  once  realized  that  the 
horses  would  never  follow  our  example.  Here  the 
forest  gets  still  worse,  the  river  runs  close  to  the  moun- 
tains, only  leaving  a  very  narrow  space.  To  cut  our  way 
round  bogs  and  forest  higher  up  on  the  slope  was  not  to 
be  thought  of,  and  further  progress  looked  doubtful. 
But  it  was  better  here  and  there,  and  we  felt  hopeful 
till  we  came  to  the  last  mile.  No  horse  would  ever 
come  through  that;  we  should  have  to  carry  our  own 
luggage. 

We  stood  on  the  shore  of  Lago  Fagnano.  This  fact 
did  not  elate  us  unduly ;  it  was  simple  enough  to  walk 
there;  but  the  thought  that  we  had  reached  our 
longed-for  lake  on  the  same  day  as  we  landed  afforded 
us  some  amusement.  With  gathered  driftwood  we 
made  a  good  fire  and  dried  our  clothes.  Fixed  on  a 
stick,  theguanaco  meat  soon  became  a  regular  "  asado" 
that  tasted  very  good,  with  a  biscuit  and  water  from  the 
lake.  A  few  yards  from  the  shore  we  found  a  suitable 
place  for  the  night  in  a  grove  of  Nothofagus  betuloides 
(coigue),  the  evergreen  Antarctic  beech,  and  beautiful 
Winter's  bark  {Drimys  Winteri),  and  we  made  our  beds  of 
fragrant  branches  round  a  roaring  fire  that  sent  showers 
of  sparks  through  the  dark  night.  The  sky  was  clear  and 
cold,  but  we  maintained  the  fire  and  slept  well  for  a 
while  with  the  knapsack  as  pillow.  We  had  not  brought 
our  sleeping-bags. 

The  ground  was  covered  with  hoar-frost  when  at 
dawn  we  crept  out  of  our  nest.  After  eating  the  last 
piece  of  biscuit  we  walked  back  to  our  camp,  keeping 
a   desultory  look-out  for  new  tracks  for  the  horses. 


44  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

How  inviting  the  camp  looks  on  our  return !  the  tents 
shining  white  at  the  forest's  edge,  in  the  pots  our  dinner 
cooking  with  a  cheerful  sound,  and  at  a  little  distance 
our  horses  grazing  peacefully !  Is  there  a  truer  sense 
of  happiness  and  freedom  than  when  the  tent  or  the  sky- 
is  your  roof,  the  ground  your  bed,  the  camp-fire  your 
hearth  ?  In  front  of  us,  on  the  other  side  of  the  fiord. 
Mount  Hope  raises  its  jagged  porphyritic  mass,  and  icy 
crests  peep  forth  behind  it.  The  sun  beams  from  a 
clear  blue  sky — it  is  still  summer  in  Tierra  del  Fuego. 

Pagels  had  not  seen  any  sheep,  but  had  shot  some 
kelp- geese  (CMoephaga  hyhrida),  which,  however,  are 
generally  considered  as  inedible.  We  had  not  been 
able  to  find  our  store  of  guanaco  again  when  we  returned 
from  the  lake,  so,  untroubled  by  a  belief  in  the  omni- 
science of  authorities,  we  prepared  the  disdained  geese 
and  ate  heartily  of  the  dish. 

The  first  day  of  March  was  occupied  by  Halle  and 
myself  in  a  survey  of  the  valley  of  Rio  Fontaine,  which 
discharges  into  Admiralty  Inlet.  Its  nature  closely 
resembles  that  of  the  Azopardo  valley.  Quensel  and 
Pagels  went  to  look  for  the  guanaco  meat  and  found  it. 
In  the  evening  we  collected  all  the  things  to  be  brought 
up  to  the  lake  with  the  first  transport,  and  at  night 
everything  was  ready.  One  of  the  horses  had  been 
injured  in  landing,  but  the  rest  were  saddled  early  the 
next  morning,  and  the  first  caravan,  under  the  direction 
of  Quensel,  soon  disappeared  among  the  hills.  The 
next  day  Halle  and  I  made  an  ascent  of  a  mountain 
behind  our  camp.  The  worst  part  of  a  Fuegian  moun- 
tain is  the  forest  belt,  but  sometimes  one   may  get 


IN  TIEURA  DEL  FQEGO  45 

help  from  the  winding  paths  of  the  guanacos.  Thence 
one  wanders  free  and  happy  over  meadows  adorned 
with  flowers  or  across  slopes  of  rattling  stones,  where 
fcmall  herds  of  guanacos  with  elegant  tails  gallop  away, 
neighing  merrily.  From  a  summit  we  had  a  very  fine 
view  of  the  lake  and  the  surrounding  landscape.  As 
we  were  studying  it  through  the  glasses  we  discovered 
some  black  specks  at  the  bottom  of  the  valley — the 
caravan  coming  back — one,  two,  three  men,  one,  two, 
three  horses.  Good !  At  once  we  hastened  down  to 
the  camp,  anxious  to  hear  their  experiences,  in  which 
truly  the  trip  had  been  rich  enough.  The  track  sur- 
veyed by  us  was  of  httle  use — the  dry  ridges  where  we 
had  walked  so  hopefully  were  covered  by  peat,  hardened 
on  the  surface,  but  not  strong  enough  to  carry  the  weight 
of  a  horse.  Each  horse  had  nine  times  been  bogged  so 
badly  that  it  had  to  be  unloaded,  dragged  out  of  the 
peat,  and  loaded  again — twenty- seven  times  altogether ! 
After  eight  hours'  desperate  efiort  a  distance  of  four 
miles  was  covered,  and  the  cargo  had  been  deposited 
at  the  Mascarello  river.  Thus  it  was  evident  that  we 
should  have  to  carry  all  the  luggage  for  the  rest  of  the 
way.  We  hastily  selected  provisions  for  fifteen  days? 
packed  our  8- feet  collapsible  Berthon,  and  divided  every- 
thing into  two  horse- loads,  as  one  of  the  horses  had 
proved  unfit  for  transport  of  that  sort.  The  rest  was 
put  together  in  a  depot,  and  early  on  the  5  th  we  struck 
camp. 

We  advanced  slowly  and  without  adventure  till  we 
had  passed  the  first  small  tributary,  when  bad  luck 
attended  us.     The  horse  with  the  boat  and  tents  was 


46  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

badly  bogged,  capsized  with  his  cargo,  and  lay  groaning 
under  the  heavy  load.  To  make  matters  worse,  it 
happened  on  a  steep  slope,  and  we  barely  managed  to 
save  him  from  tumbUng  down  into  the  river.  Standing 
knee-deep  in  the  loose  peat,  we  unloaded  him,  turned 
him  round,  and  got  him  on  his  feet  again.  He  bled, 
but  not  very  much.  To  give  him  the  same  load  was 
impossible,  as  the  ground  grew  worse  still,  but  MuUer 
and  Pagels  took  the  boat  on  their  shoulders  and  con- 
tinued the  march.  Now  the  horses  had  an  easier  march, 
but  were  of  course  bogged  now  and  then.  We  dragged 
them  across  the  worst  places,  one  hauhng  at  the  cabresta, 
the  two  others  walking  by  the  side  of  the  staggering 
animal  supporting  it.  Nevertheless  we  got  on,  cheered 
the  depot,  and  sent  the  horses  back.  I  continued  the 
way  with  our  men,  and  we  brought  three  loads  up  near 
to  the  lake.  At  nightfall  we  all  gathered  at  Mascarello, 
and  soon  forgot  our  troubles  round  a  mighty  fire, 
although  a  treacherous  trunk  made  me  capsize  the 
appetizing  pea- soup,  just  as  we  were  ready  to  devour 
it  with  the  appetites  of  hons.  Another  spell  of  impatient 
waiting  was  spent  in  discussions  of  what  the  coming 
day  might  have  in  store  for  us.  We  all  felt  that  now 
the  real  hardships  were  about  to  begin. 

The  loads  were  distributed  in  a  very  simple  manner. 
Everybody  took  as  much  as  he  could  carry,  and  a  pro- 
cession of  five  individuals  started.  Progress  is  not  rapid, 
the  steep  riverbanks  make  our  knees  bend  and  our  backs 
ache,  the  sun  broils  us,  impudent  flies  torment  us. 
The  conversation  is  not  very  hvely.  Somebody  throws 
his  burden  down,  the  others  follow  his  example;    we 


IN  TIERRA  DEL  FUEGO  47 

straighten  our  backs,  wipe  our  brows  with  dirty  shirt- 
sleeves, and  fall  flat  on  the  ground;  mechanically  we 
chew  a  biscuit  or  a  piece  of  chocolate — there  is  no  time 
for  dinner.  Up  again,  through  the  thickets,  where 
thorny  bushes  scratch  our  faces  and  bare  arms,  where 
every  minute  the  load  is  caught  in  the  dense  branches, 
where  mouldering  trunks  trip  us  up ;  through  the  bogs, 
where  the  oozing  surface  makes  walking  heavy  work, 
through  the  ravines,  where  we  must  stop  to  drink  the 
pure,  cold  water  that  comes  directly  from  the  melting 
snow.  What  dehght  when  we  catch  a  glimpse  of  the 
lake !  With  a  sigh  of  relief  we  throw  off  our  burdens 
on  the  shore.  Here  we  found  the  boat  and  the  flour- 
bag  left  on  the  previous  day,  and  we  pulled  round  a 
cape  and  landed  in  a  sheltered  bay,  called  Expedition's 
Cove.  We  walked  back  again  to  Mascarello  in  order 
to  make  an  early  start  the  next  morning.  Some  things 
were  left  there  as  a  reserve  depot,  the  rest  we  took  on 
our  shoulders  and  trod  the  same  old  wretched  way  again. 
Thus  our  camp  at  the  lake  became  a  reahty,  our  first 
destination  was  settled;  the  Swedish  colours  floated 
in  the  heart  of  Tierra  del  Fuego. 

The  tent  door  is  wide  open.  In  most  cases  the  chilly 
mornings  tempt  us  to  enjoy  the  warm  comfort  of  the 
sleeping-bag  for  another  five  minutes,  but  to-day  it  is 
not  possible.  Not  a  leaf  moves.  The  lake  Hes  shining 
like  a  mirror,  only  furrowed  by  a  mated  pair  of  patova- 
pores  (steamer-ducks  or  loggerheads,  Tachyeres  cinereus), 
that  ghde  away  chattering  merrily.  The  mountains 
on  either  side  rise  clear  and  sharp  against  the  sky, 
one  behind  the  other  like  gigantic  wings;    close  to  us 


48  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

dark  green  with  shades  of  red  and  violet,  on  the  crests 
they   gradually   change   into   a   bluish  grey.     In   the 
background  the  rising  sun  over  the  water,  a  splendid 
white  sun,  promises  us  a  magnihcent  day,  sending  us 
its   greetings   and   illuminating   every   corner   of   our 
camp.    Out  from  the  bags,  a  speedy  toilet,  and  as  Pagels 
announces  "  Porridge  is  ready"  we  gather  round  the 
cauldron.     Round  the  fireplace  we  put  some  big  logs 
as  sofas,  make  ourselves  comfortable,  and  with  often- 
repeated  words  of  praise  consume  large  quantities  of 
oatmeal  porridge  and  cofiee  with  biscuits — and  if  three 
or  four  guanaco  steaks  should  happen  to  go  the  same 
way,  there  is  nothing  to  say  against  that.     The  work 
may  be  hard,   but  days  like    this    make   everything 
easy,  mapping  or  geology  or  botany.     The  sunbeams 
play    on    the    velvety    moss- carpet,    with    infectious 
laughter  the  stream  falls  down  the  precipice.     Can  any 
but  bright  faces  gather  round   the  fire  when  twihght 
falls  over  Lake  Fagnano  ?     Fixed  on  a  stick  over  the 
embers  our  asado  is  roasted,  dehcious  enough  to  make 
one's  mouth  water.     The  teapot  sings,   we  fight  our 
pipes — this  is   the  hour   for   stories.     Pagels   has   an 
inexhaustible  supply  of  stories  from  real  fife,  for  he  has 
indeed  seen  a  little  of  everything.    What  do  you  say  to  a 
fellow  of  thirty,  who  has  been  sailor  in  the  German 
navy,  boatswain,  sealer,  gold-digger,  who  has  traversed 
half  Patagonia  on  horseback,  has  smuggled  troops  into 
Central  America,  and  assisted  at  the  capture  of  Peking 
during  the  Boxer  rebelfion  ?    He  was  indispensable  on 
our  boat- journeys,  the  type  of  Teutonic  giant,  used  to 
all  sorts  of  tricks  on  shore  as  weU  as  on  sea.    Certainly 


IN  TIERRA  DEL  FUEGO  49 

he  did  not  hide  his  light  under  a  bushel.  Sometimes  he 
would  make  us  half  desperate  with  his  patent  dodges ; 
he  was  always  so  absolutely  sure  that  it  wasn't  worth 
while  to  try  any  other  method  than  his — that  there 
could  not  exist  a  better!  Miiller,  with  his  pale  face 
fringed  with  a  big  black  beard,  was  more  timid,  but 
when  he  loosened  his  tongue  we  soon  found  him  to  be  a 
rather  well-read  man,  who  was  up  to  date  in  many 
things,  especially  in  poHtics.  He  had  arrived  from 
Brazil,  shook  his  head  at  the  Fuegian  weather  and 
pulled  his  cap  over  his  ears.  After  dinner,  just  when 
we  are  ready  to  go  to  bed,  he  puts  his  private  kettle 
on  the  fire  and  the  yerha  or  mate  makes  the  round. 
Night  has  come;  Prince,  the  expedition  dog,  is  asleep 
with  a  guanaco  bone,  and  the  last  embers  show  us  our 
way  to  the  tent. 

The  first  days  we  were  very  busy  with  detail- work 
in  the  vicinity  of  our  cove,  Halle  made  a  map,  Quensel 
studied  the  geology,  and  I  myself  made  botanical 
excursions,  tried  the  boat,  and  took  soundings  in  the 
western  corner  of  the  lake.  But  we  could  not  put  off 
the  excursion  to  the  Betbeder  passage  over  the  moun- 
tains, to  which  I  have  alluded  before,  and  on  March  10 
we  started,  Quensel,  Pagels,  and  I.  In  our  knap- 
sacks we  carried  a  pair  of  socks  and  provisions  for 
four  or  five  days;  the  sleeping-bags  were  tied  to  the 
sacks.  After  a  hard  climb  up  the  slippery  slopes, 
sometimes  on  our  hands  and  knees,  we  reached  a 
ridge,  but  the  view  to  the  main  Cordillera  was  still  shut 
off  by  several  summits.  To  the  left  there  was  no  way, 
to  the  right  was  a  peak  sloping  sheer  down  to  piles 


50  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

of  sharp- edged  slate-blocks.  Pagels  had  hastened 
ahead,  and  shouted  to  us  that  he  could  see  a  way- 
round  the  summit.  With  great  care  we  groped  round 
the  precipitous  wall,  making  use  of  fissures  and 
narrow  shelves  that  gave  way  under  our  weight, 
and  after  climbing  some  hundred  feet  more  we  finally 
reach  the  eternal  snowfields  at  a  height  of  about  3000 
feet. 

fi  We  stopped  here  a  while  in  order  to  get  an  idea  of 
our  position  and  to  make  up  our  minds  how  to  continue. 
The  view  was  certainly  splendid.  All  round  us  bright 
green  Alpine  meadows,  black  debris  or  white  snow, 
below  the  small  characteristic  valley- basins,  sometimes 
occupied  by  a  small  glacier  or  furrowed  by  icy  brooks, 
surrounded  by  an  emerald-green  moss-carpet  and  the 
last  flowers  of  autumn.     If  we  compare  the  Alpine 

•\  flora  of  Tierra  del  Fuego  with,  for  instance,  that  of 
Europe,  the  former  without  doubt  is  left  far  behind, 
but  nevertheless  it  has  the  same  pecuHar  stamp,  the 
same  gay  colours.  Our  looks  sweep  over  the  plateaus ; 
not  far  from  us  our  destination.  Sierra  Valdivieso, 
rises,    and   in   the   distance   the   summits   of   Darwin 

-  Mountains,  one  of  the  highest  parts  of  Tierra  del  Fuego, 
shine  like  diamonds.  Silence  and  desolation  reign  over 
this  height;  only  a  single  guanaco  neighs  and  takes 
to  flight,  and  a  condor  majestically  soars  over  our 
heads. 

As  to  the  direction  in  which  we  should  find  the  pass 
the  maps  had  misled  us;  we  had  made  a  long  detour 
and  the  day's  labour  had  partly  been  thrown  away. 
We  were  forced  to  climb-down  into  the  Betbeder  valley 


IN  TIERRA  DEL  FUEGO  51 

and  follow  it  up  to  the  pass.  Without  hesitation  we 
left  the  mountains  and  dived  into  the  brushwood. 
I  think  that  we  shall  not  easily  forget  this  expedition. 
The  tough  branches  clung  round  legs  and  arms,  and  only 
after  we  had  lost  our  patience  did  we  really  make  any 
progress.  The  mountain- wall  falls  ofi  nearly  at  right 
angles;  when  the  hands  grasped  for  the  branches 
the  legs  touched  the  heads  of  other  trees  beneath, 
and  more  like  monkeys  than  human  beings,  dirty  and 
soaked,  we  reached  the  yellowish-brown  bogs  in  the 
valley.  AVe  found  a  dry  hillock  with  a  nice  carpet  of 
diddledee  {Empetrum  ruhrum),  and  spread  out  our 
sleeping-bags  there. 

The  night  was  chilly,  but  we  awoke  to  another  fine 
day,  and  porridge  and  coffee  soon  put  new  Hfe  into  us. 
The  way  was  always  more  or  less  wretched;  several 
streams  with  ice-cold  water  were  crossed  without 
ceremony :  we  emptied  our  boots,  wrung  our  socks  out, 
put  them  on  again,  and  were  all  right.  Some  stretches 
were  covered  by  tall  forests  of  "roble"  (down  here 
NotJwfagus  pumilio).  Several  times  we  crossed  the 
Rio  Betbeder,  making  use  of  fallen  trunks  as  natural 
bridges.  By- and- by  we  climbed  upwards  with  the 
vaFey,  and  soon  beheld  a  beautiful  mountain,  called  by 
us  Cerro  Svea ;  most  interesting  as  differing  widely  in 
geological  features  from  the  surrounding  country.  The 
river  disappeared  in  a  deep  gorge,  but  we  struck  it  again, 
and  were  able  to  follow  it  with  the  eyes  up  to  a  glacier 
with  beautiful  edge  moraines  on  Mount  Svea,  whence 
most  of  the  water  comes.  We  crossed  the  river  for  the 
last  time,  worked  our  way  through  the  belt  of  bnishwood, 


52  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

and  found  an  open  space  big  enough  for  our  bags  and 
comparatively  dry.  As  we  had  three  hours  left  before 
nightfall,  Quensel  and  I  at  once  climbed  the  ridge 
behind  us  in  order  to  look  for  the  pass.  Being  hard  up 
for  meat,  we  had  brought  the  Winchester,  and  came  across 
a  small  herd  of  guanacos  at  a  height  of  about  2500  feet. 
They  were  too  far  off,  and  we  started  to  stalk  them; 
perhaps  we  should  have  been  successful  had  not  the 
mountain- fog,  thick  and  impenetrable,  come  down 
upon  us,  and  with  it  a  snowstorm.  From  a  crest  at 
about  3300  feet  we  saw  the  herd  hurry  away  down 
towards  the  valley  on  the  other  side  of  the  pass.  But 
we  had  also  seen  something  else  before  the  foggy  wall 
shut  out  everything  round  us.  Beneath  our  feet 
stretched  an  unknown  valley,  red,  brown,  and  yeUow  -^ 
like  the  Betbeder  valley,  and  in  numerous  serpentines 
a  river  wound  through  the  peat- bogs,  coming  from  the 
glaciers  on  the  south  side  of  Mount  Svea,  while  in  a 
side  valley  we  perceived  a  small  mountain  lake  that 
discharged  into  the  river.  Then  the  curtain  fell ;  violent 
snow- squalls  forced  us  to  return,  and,  groping  in  the 
debris,  half  blind  with  the  snow,  we  came  down  to  the 
fire  with  the  night.  Snow  continued  to  fall,  but  supper 
tasted  better  than  ever,  and  the  flakes  quickly  melted 
in  the  hot  cocoa.  Later  the  sky  cleared,  Cross  and 
Centaur  gUttered.  "  We'll  have  a  dry  night,"  we  said, 
and  crept  into  the  bags. 

It  was  a  strange  awakening.  Certainly  I  had  felt, 
half  asleep,  that  the  bag  was  growing  heavier  and  that 
water  was  trickling  in  from  the  "  pillow"  (my  coat  and 
trousers),  but  I  shook  off  the  snow,  pulled  the  hood 


1  III-.     l;i-.  I  BKDKK    \'a1.I.1,\  . 


MOUM     SVKA,    WITH    GLACIEK    AM)    .MOKAiM.^. 


IN  TIERKA  DEL  FUEGO  53 

tighter  round  my  head  and  slept  again.  I  jumped  up 
on  hearing  Pagels'  "  Aber,  Herr  Doktor,"  and  looked 
round.  The  landscape  had  changed.  Certainly  Mount 
Svea  had  been  white  and  glistening  before,  but  now — 
here  was  winter.  All  round  us  everything  was  white 
and  clean.  The  sleeping-bag  was  covered  two  inches 
deep,  more  or  less,  our  boots  had  disappeared,  our  clothes 
were  soaked.  It  was  not  especially  agreeable  to  put 
them  on,  but  there  was  no  help  for  it.  The  fire  half 
dried  us,  and  then  we  had  breakfast. 

The  sky  is  blue,  the  sun  is  already  melting  the  snow, 
no  time  must  be  lost.  Pagels  was  sent  to  shoot  a 
guanaco — Prince  had  not  had  anything  to  eat  since  we 
left  Lake  Fagnano.  Quensel  and  I  walked  to  the  pass 
and  down  along  the  slopes  of  the  new  valley ;  the  river 
we  named  Rio  Rojas,  after  the  admiral  in  Punta  Arenas; 
it  is  the  same  river  that  discharges  into  Lake  Acigami 
near  the  Beagle  Channel.  The  new  lake  was  named 
Laguna  Lowenborg.  Probably  we  were  the  first  white 
men  here.  We  have  been  told  that  in  old  times  Indians 
used  to  cross  the  mountains  from  Azopardo  to  the 
Beagle  Channel,  but  we  do  not  know  if  this  be  true  or 
not ;  if  so,  they  would  have  used  our  pass,  Paso  de  las 
Lagunas,  as  we  call  it.  Its  height  above  sea- level  is 
about  2100  feet.  It  was  a  matter  of  some  disappoint- 
ment that  we  did  not  see  the  Beagle  Channel.  Pagels 
had  followed  the  other  side  of  the  valley,  climbed  a 
peak,  and  saw  from  there  two  sheets  of  water.  To 
judge  from  his  description  one  of  them  was  Yendagaia, 
the  other  the  Beagle  Channel  itself.  Moreover,  he 
brought  back  the  best  pieces  of  two  guanacos;    and 


54  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

Prince  could  hardly  walk  back  to  the  camp,  so  much 
had  he  devoured ! 

The  weather  had  changed  once  more.  It  did  not  snow, 
but  rained  hard  instead ;  however,  we  resolved  to  stop 
one  day  more,  provided  that  the  sky  was  clear  enough. 
The  next  day  opened  with  mist  and  rain,  so  we  could 
do  nothing  but  return.  It  did  not  matter  much  that 
the  rain  poured  down;  we  were  as  wet  as  we  could 
possibly  be,  and  only  the  interior  of  our  sleeping-bags 
was  still  dry.  It  was  not  easy  to  find  a  dry  spot  for 
the  night's  camp,  and  stiU  less  easy  to  make  a  fire. 
But  after  an  hour's  work  we  had  a  nice  blaze.  It 
rained  all  night  and  all  the  next  day,  but  we  went  on. 
The  forest  seemed  denser  than  ever,  the  streams  were 
swollen  and  rapid,  and  w^e  felt  it  a  relief  to  wade  through 
the  open  bogs  along  Rio  Betbeder  down  to  the  lake. 
In  the  camp  everything  was  in  perfect  order.  Halle 
was  ready  to  undertake  the  proposed  trip  across  the 
mountains  north  of  Fagnano  and  down  to  Lake  Deseado ; 
and  accompanied  by  Miiller  he  set  out  over  the  lake 
to  a  suitable  starting- place.  Pagels  and  I  were  busy 
preparing  for  a  boat- trip,  and  early  on  the  16  th  we 
loaded  the  cargo.  When  everything  was  on  board, 
the  rifle,  provisions,  sounding- fines,  nets,  sleeping-bags, 
&c.,  we  had  so  little  room  left  for  ourselves  that  we  had 
to  sit  very  uncomfortably.  From  the  shore  we  had  seen 
some  small  islands;  we  set  our  course  for  them,  and 
found  them  interesting  enough,  as  they  showed  beautiful 
traces  of  the  glacial  age  in  the  form  of  moraines,  erratic 
blocks,  and  poHshed  stones.  The  direction  of  the 
morainic  ridges  and  the  origin  of  the  blocks  showed 


IN  TIERRA  DEL  FUEGO  55 

to  a  certainty  that  the  ice  had  moved  west- eastward 
here.  Later  in  the  day  I  found  new  proofs,  and  with 
regard  to  plant  geography,  a  subject  I  desired  to  study 
more  specially,  I  had  a  rare  chance  of  following  step  by 
step  the  gradual  change  of  evergreen  into  deciduous 
forest.  At  3  p.m.  we  passed  the  remnants  of  a  cairn 
with  a  tripod  of  rough  sticks  on  the  top  of  it :  we  were 
now  in  Argentina !  Now  and  then  an  inquisitive 
guanaco  looked  at  us  from  the  forest's  edge,  but  soon 
withdrew,  and  flocks  of  screaming  paroquets  flew  among 
the  heads  of  the  roble- trees.  But  no  trace  whatever 
of  Ona  Indians  was  to  be  seen.  A  small  forest- clad 
island  appeared  to  us  a  suitable  camping- place,  and  at 
nightfall  we  landed  with  great  care. 

Good  luck  was  almost  necessary  for  us.  Only  for 
a  few  days  in  the  month  is  Lake  Fagnano  calm; 
generally  a  fi'esh  westerly  breeze  keeps  up  a  heavy  sea. 
The  lake  is  about  fifty- six  miles  long,  and  we  had 
now  covered  one- fourth  of  that  distance.  Another  nice 
day  and  we  should  have  done  our  work. 

Through  the  canvas  and  blanket  I  heard  a  soft  murmur 
— only  a  Uttle  breeze — and  we  breakfasted  with  strong 
hopes  for  a  good  day.  But  we  were  greatly  deceived. 
The  wind  increased,  and  when  we  finished  our  meal 
there  were  already  white  crests  on  the  billows.  The 
sky  promised  a  gale,  but  as  we  did  not  want  to  be  idle 
we  pulled  across  to  the  shore,  where  we  strolled  about 
along  the  beach.  We  returned  at  the  last  moment 
and  got  some  water  in  before  we  reached  our  island. 
I  had  plenty  of  time  to  survey  our  position.  Seldom 
was  the  impression  of  virgin  ground  so  strong  as  here. 


56  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

No  guanacos  ever  come  there ;  the  grass  is  never  grazed 
upon,  but  grows  in  enormous  beds  where  one  sinks 
down  to  the  knees  through  piles  of  dry  blades.  Several 
plants  that  were  '^^uite  familiar  to  me  in  other  places 
here  grew  to  a  gigantic  size  and  were  hardly  to  be 
recognised.  What  a  difference  between  this  place 
and  the  Azopardo  valley !  We  are  in  the  zone  of  the  / 
rohle  :  the  dense,  dark-green  groves  with  the  thick, 
water- soaked  carpet  of  mosses  and  liverworts  has 
disappeared;  so  has  also  "  canelo,"  or  Winter's  bark, 
one  of  Flora's  most  beautiful  children  in  the  far  south. 
The  forest  is  dry,  the  green  colours  bright;  dry  is  the 
moss-carpet,  and  out  of  the  thick  layer  of  fallen  leaves 
slender  forest  herbs  peep  forth.  Our  island  is  a  little 
paradise,  but  nevertheless  we  want  to  take  leave  of 
it  as  soon  as  possible.  All  day  passed,  and  all  night 
it  blew  hard  enough  to  make  the  big  trees  wave  and 
groan ;  in  the  morning  the  sea  ran  as  heavy  as  before. 
The  situation  became  still  less  pleasant.  The  next  day 
we  expected  Halle  back,  and  he  could  not  reach  the  tents 
without  a  boat.  Our  provisions  were  almost  finished, 
and  we  found  nothing  to  shoot.  We  looked  for  berries, 
and  found  "  calafate"  {Berber is  huxifolia)  and  "  chaura" 
{Pernettya  mucronata) ;   we  had  also  some  biscuits  left. 

Suddenly  the  wind  died  away.  It  was  already  late, 
5  P.M.,  but  we  did  not  linger  a  moment,  loaded  the  boat 
and  left  the  island.  Our  little  nutshell  quite  disappeared 
in  the  troughs  of  the  waves.  We  could  not  go  further 
east — probably  the  next  day  would  bring  us  a  strong 
head- wind  on  our  return.  We  crossed  the  lake  and 
were  just  close  to  the  northern  shore  when  we  caught 


IN  TIERRA  DEL  FUEGO  57 

sight  of  a  tiny  column  of  smoke  rising  out  of  the  forest — 
Indians,  some  of  the  last  families  still  living  the  old  life. 
However,  we  could  not  stop,  but  preferred  to  take 
advantage  of  the  fine  weather.  Tl^e  night  was  very- 
dark  ;  we  made  only  one  halt,  at  a  place  where  Indians 
had  had  their  camp  long  ago,  as  the  guanaco  bones 
gave  evidence. 

On  our  return  we  sounded  and  got  our  greatest  depth, 
seventy  fathoms,  close  to  the  island.  A  series  of  sound- 
ings show  that  the  bottom  slopes  gradually  to  the  east ; 
the  deepest  part  is  probably  west  of  the  middle.  Early 
in  the  morning  we  were  back  "  home,"  where  Quensel 
and  Prince  received  us.  Halle  had  not  shown  any  sign 
of  return,  but  his  signal  came  later  in  the  day,  and 
Pagels  was  sent  with  the  boat  to  fetch  him.  He  had 
penetrated  to  the  mountains  north  of  Lake  Deseado; 
no  natives  were  seen,  but  otherwise  he  had  had  a  bad 
time.  The  comparisons  Miiller  made  between  Brazil 
and  Tierra  del  Fuego  were  not  in  favour  of  the  last- 
mentioned  country. 

We  had  reason  to  be  contented  that  we  were  all  back, 
for  the  same  day  a  storm  came  on,  the  end  of  which 
we  hardly  saw.  The  last  excursions  were  done  with 
the  rain  pouring  down.  The  Huemvl  was  expected  on 
the  25th,  and  three  days  earlier  we  struck  camp.  The 
cargo  was,  of  course,  not  so  large;  no  provisions  were 
left ;  and,  besides,  Pagels  undertook  to  pull  the  boat 
with  some  less  fragile  things  down  Rio  Azopardo,  in 
spite  of  the  rapids.  Quensel  had  to  follow  alongside 
the  river  and  give  Pagels  a  hand  with  the  landings. 
The  rest  of  us  divided  what  was  left  of  our  equipment 


58  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

and  set  out.     I  believe  we  never  worked  so  hard  before. 
I  shall  not  try  the  reader's  patience  with  another  detailed 
description :   let  it  be  sufficient  to  remark  that  the  bogs 
were  frightful  after  the  severe  rainfalls,  that  we  were  often 
stuck,  while  a  never-ceasing  rain  increased  the  weight 
of  our  load  at  every  minute.     Soaked  to  the  skin  and 
without  the  possibihty  of  getting  dry  clothes,  we  reached 
the  depot  at  Mascarello,  and  after  a  while  Pagels  and 
Quensel    also    came    in.     They    had    managed    their 
business  well  enough ;  only  once  the  boat  had  struck  a 
rock  in  one  of  the  rapids  and  filled  with  water,  and  some 
things  belonging  to  the  cargo  were  carried  away  for 
ever  by  the  current.    But  Pagels  reached  the  shore 
before  the  little  craft  sank.     They  told  us  that  the  boat 
was  on  the  shore  at  the  foot  of  a  barranca,  where  it 
would  be  impossible  to  pull  through  the  canon,  as  the 
place  must  be  described  as  really  dangerous.     As  the 
barranca  was  very  steep  they  could  not  carry  the  boat 
without  help,  so  we  all  went  to  the  river,  and  found  the 
place  so  steep  that  we  had  to  slide  down  to  the  water, 
grasping  the  roots  of  the  trees  or  whatever  else  we  could 
get  hold  of.    We  transported  everything  past  the  rapids, 
and  managed  to  fix  the  boat  behind  some  bushes  that 
kept  it  from  falling  into  the  river,  and  the  other  things 
were  hidden  as   well  as  we  could  hide   them.    But 
evidently  we  had  not  been  careful  enough,  for  when 
our  "  sailors  "  returned  the  following  day  they  missed 
several  things,  amongst  them  all  our  supply  of  meat; 
clearly  the  foxes  had  been  there  and  done  good  business. 
^     Halle  and  I  made  no  haste,  but  waited  till  the  rain 
had  ceased  a  little,  packed  our  cargo,  and  waded  through 


IN  TIERRA  DEL  FUEGO  59 

the  clay  down  the  river.  But  there  we  stopped.  Was 
this  oiir  old  innocent  Mascarello  ?  A  yellowish  stream 
whirled  along  the  stony,  invisible  bed  !  I  tried  to  cross, 
but  close  to  the  shore  the  water  reached  high  upon  my 
thighs,  so  we  could  not  venture  with  our  heavy  cargo 
in  the  rapid  current.  We  waited  a  while,  and  divided 
the  last  piece  of  meat  between  us.  Only  a  few  handfuls 
of  flour  were  left  of  the  provisions,  and  I  resolved  to 
risk  baking  it  in  the  frying-pan.  I  made  proper  dough 
with  some  baking-powder,  greased  the  pan  with  the 
last  dirty  grease  left,  put  a  hd  on,  and  covered  it  with 
hot  cinders.  We  waited  anxiously,  but  when  I  appeared 
with  delicious  bread  my  triumph  was  complete;  it 
tasted  excellent.  In  vain  we  surveyed  the  river 
down  to  its  junction  with  Eio  Azopardo;  nowhere  did 
we  find  a  place  where  we  could  cross  it,  and  we  had  to 
stop  another  night  in  our  wet  clothes.  It  rained  all 
the  time,  but  we  were  happy  to  get  a  cold  morning, 
that  made  the  water-level  in  these  glacier  streams  sink 
rapidly.  We  crossed  without  delay,  the  rain  ceased, 
and  a  fresh  gale  soon  dried  our  clothes.  We  could 
hardly  recognise  our  old  place  at  Hope  Bay.  The  forest 
was  changed  into  a  swamp,  and  the  beautiful  open 
space  where  we  had  pitched  the  tents  was  a  lake;  the 
taste  of  the  water  plainly  showed  that  the  sea  too  had 
penetrated  hither  during  our  absence.  Luckily  enough 
we  had  placed  our  depot  above  this  unsuspected 
flood.  We  soon  found  a  new  place.  Halle  and  I,  who 
arrived  first,  at  once  set  to  work  to  pitch  the  tents, 
when  suddenly  a  signal  announced  the  arrival  of  the 
Huemul.     The  officers  came  ashore,  anxious  to  get  news ; 


60  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

we  could  not  promise  to  be  ready  that  same  day,  there 
being  still  things  left  in  the  depot  at  Mascarello. 

Quensel  and  Pagels  arrived  with  the  boat.  Miiller, 
who  had  fallen  behind,  and,  according  to  his  custom,  also 
got  lost,  finally  appeared,  and  we  were  gathered  round 
the  fire  occupied  in  devouring  the  delicacies  left  in  the 
depot  when  a  message  came  from  the  Huemul  telling  us 
that  she  had  damaged  her  engines  and  wanted  to  repair. 
As  Hope  Bay  is  anything  but  sheltered,  she  had  to 
leave  us  once  more,  but  the  captain  promised  to  be  back 
on  the  26  th.  He  went  to  Puerto  Gomez.  We  were  very 
glad  to  get  another  day,  as  the  horses  only  came  half- 
way to  Mascarello,  and  for  the  rest  the  things  left 
there  had  to  be  carried. 

In  due  time  the  Huemul  arrived.  Well-known,  dark 
clouds  appeared  on  the  sky,  and  made  us  hurry  up  as 
much  as  possible.  The  horses  had  to  swim,  and  two 
of  them  came  on  board  quite  exhausted.  And  we  did  not 
embark  without  adventure.  We  were  just  on  our  way 
to  the  ship  with  a  large,  heavy  boat,  the  cargo  being  so 
bulky  that  only  two  oars  could  be  used,  when  suddenly 
a  heavy  squall  came  on.  We  were  ten  minutes  off  from 
the  vessel,  but  were  driven  back  in  spite  of  our  energetic 
efforts,  and  almost  before  we  knew  it  we  were  among 
the  breakers  on  the  shore.  We  had  no  choice;  we 
jumped  into  the  water,  passed  the  things  along,  and 
pulled  up  the  boat.  On  board  they  grew  anxious 
and  blew  the  whistle,  but  we  could  do  nothing  but  wait. 
At  last  we  took  an  opportunity  between  two  squalls; 
standing  in  the  water  to  our  waists  we  loaded  the  boat, 
got  out  of  the  heavy  surf,  and  came  on  board.   But  we 


IN  TIERRA  DEL  FUEGO  61 

were  so  delayed  that  we  stopped  the  night  where  we 
were. 

On  March  27  we  saluted  Hope  Bay  and  proceeded 
westward,  but  did  not  get  out  of  the  inlet.  A  head- wind 
and  a  heavy  sea  showed  us  that  it  would  be  too  much 
for  our  poor  horses,  so  we  sought  shelter  once  more 
in  Puerto  Gomez.  Here  a  little  scene  happened  that  I 
often  recall  to  memory  and  will  not  keep  from  my 
readers.  In  Punta  Arenas  the  cabin-boy  had  smuggled 
on  board  some  nasty  stuff,  I  beheve  absinthe,  which  is 
strictly  prohibited,  and  his  friend  the  cook  had  got 
drunk.  The  captain  tried  and  sentenced  them  without 
hesitation:  they  had  to  undress,  and  were  thrown 
into  the  sea  with  a  rope  round  the  waist.  In  the  ice- 
cold  water  they  had  an  opportunity  of  repenting  of 
their  sins.  This  method  was  said  to  be  as  efiective  as 
it  is  simple. 

From  Puerto  Gomez  we  went  straight  to  Punta 
Arenas,  where  we  arrived  on  the  28  th,  and  at  once 
started  to  prepare  for  the  next  trip. 


CHAPTER  IV 

OTWAY  WATER  AND  SKYRING  WATER 

During  the  Swedish  South  Polar  Expedition  of  1901- 
1903  the  question  of  surveying  the  great  Otway  and 
Skyring  Waters  also  had  been  discussed,  but  we  could 
not  proceed  further.  At  that  time  the  inner  part  of 
Skyring  was  completely  unknown,  and,  as  it  later  became 
evident,  a  geographical  discovery  of  great  importance 
was  in  store.  Already,  before  the  outburst  of  the  great 
Peruvian  War  (1879)  the  Chilean  Government  had  started 
a  survey,  but  the  war  put  a  stop  to  all  work  of  that 
kind,  and  it  happened  that  a  long  period  elapsed  before 
a  new  investigation  was  undertaken.  Not  until  1902 
did  we  get  news  from  Skyring.  Then,  however.  Captain 
Ismael  Gajardo  discovered  the  channel  later  named 
in  his  honour,  a  channel  which  unites  Skyring  Water 
with  a  bay  from  the  Magellan  Straits,  the  Xaaltegua 
Gulf.  Thus  the  ''  white  spot "  began  to  disappear, 
and  in  1905  the  Government  published  a  new  Admiralty 
chart  of  Otway  and  Skyring.  But  many  scientific 
problems  awaited  solution,  and,  as  far  as  we  could,  we 
wanted  to  contribute  towards  it.  I  submitted  a  scheme  to 
Admiral  Rojas,  and,  having  gained  his  approval,  we  pre- 
pared for  the  new  excursion.  We  were  to  use  the  same 
vessel,  the  Huemul,  commanded  by  L.  Diaz  Palacios, 
captain  in  the  navy.  We  engaged  Pagels  for  this  trip  also, 

62 


OTWAY  WATER  AND  SKYRING  WATER  G3 

Ou  April  11  we  steamed  out  into  the  Straits.  As  a 
period  of  storm  had  prevailed  for  some  days,  we  got 
a  very  heavy  sea,  which  made  the  small  ship  roll  in  a 
most  perilous  manner  ;  the  clinometer  indicated  33°, 
and  I  beUeve  one  seldom  gets  more.  We  remained  on 
deck,  enjoying  the  grand  spectacle  of  a  turbulent  sea. 
At  nightfall  we  reached  the  San  Isidro  Lighthouse, 
one  of  the  very  few  down  here.  The  morning  was 
bright,  and  we  weighed  anchor  early,  but  had  not 
proceeded  many  miles  before  the  storm  recommenced. 
We  could  not  venture  to  pass  Cape  Froward,  but  had 
to  seek  a  harbour,  where  we  stopped  all  day.  Cape 
Froward,  or  Forward,  is  the  southernmost  point  of  the 
American  continent.  Here  the  heavy  seas  from  the 
strait  and  from  Magdalena  Channel  meet,  and  here, 
too,  is  the  limit  between  the  April  weather  of  the  east 
and  the  west's  rainy  mist,  dense  as  a  wall.  The  point 
also  is  of  appropriate  shape  ;  it  lies  like  a  big  clenched 
fist.  Next  day  we  rounded  the  cape  and  entered  Jerome 
Channel,  connecting  Otway  Water  and  the  Straits.  It 
is  very  grand  scenery,  and  if  you  look  at  the  west  shore 
you  will  believe  that  you  are  in  the  Western  Channels, 
with  their  high  mountains,  dark  forest  patches  ending 
in  snowfields,  fine  cascades,  and  waters,  black  and  deep, 
close  to  the  clifE. 

Our  first  station  was  Cutter  Cove,  where  several  years 
ago  was  found  copper  ore  in  considerable  quantities, 
to  work  which  a  company  was  formed.    Here  we  got      X 
a  good  idea  of  a  rather  tragic  chapter  of  Patagonian    / 
history.    Prospectors  and  mining  engineers,  often  with- 
out the  slightest  right  to  such  a  title,  collected  like  flies 


64  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

on  a  piece  of  sugar.  Every  day  new  people  had  mining 
claims  granted  to  them ;  the  deposits  were  described 
in  glowing  terms.  At  once  people  in  America  or  Europe 
formed  companies,  sometimes  with  a  big  joint  capital. 
The  gold-fever  raged,  and  it  was  taken  for  granted  that 
immense  riches  must  exist  in  Patagonia  !  Engines  and 
machinery  were  bought,  houses  built,  and  then  the  end 
came.  For  as  soon  as  work  was  started  one  or  another 
disagreeable  discovery  was  made :  the  quantity  of  ore 
"^  was  too  small,  the  quality  inferior,  or  the  methods 
unsuitable ;  and  the  company  failed !  Speaking  of 
claims,  I  cannot  help  telling  the  following  story.  When 
we  went  to  Admiralty  Inlet,  and  the  newspapers  in 
Punta  Arenas  reported  the  fact,  a  poor  fellow  who  had 
once  prospected  for  gold  there  laid  claim  to  a  big  piece 
of  land,  evidently  dreading  that  we  should  get  sight  of 
his  sleeping  millions.  The  day  after  our  departure  his 
claims  were  published.  Heaven  knows  what  he  had 
not  found  in  the  way  of  valuable  things  down  there, 
all  carefully  enumerated.  We  do  not  envy  him, 
however,  for  there  was  absolutely  nothing  there  to 
speak  of. 

After  having  visited  some  places  on  the  south  side 
of  Otway  Water,  we  crossed  it  in  order  to  follow  the 
north  shore.  The  land  here  gradually  rises  towards 
the  interior  of  Riesco  Island  ;  the  slopes  are  clad  with 
tall  forests.  In  the  south  part  it  is  covered  by  the  ever- 
green trees  that  by-and-by  are  mingled  with  the  light 
green  roble  {Nothofagus  pumilio),  which  reigns  alone 
for  a  short  stretch.  Where  the  water  narrows  to  Fitzroy 
Channel  the  country  once  more  changes  its  nature, 


OTWAY  WATER  AND  SKYRING  WATER    65 

and  we  are  on  the  edge  of  the  Patagonian  pampa,  where 
groves  of  N.  antarctica  form  a  brushwood.    Of  course 
these  changes  depend  upon  the  climatic  conditions,./, 
especially  the  decreasing  rainfall. 

At  several  places  we  saw  traces  of  habitation.  In 
one  little  snug  harbour,  surrounded  by  a  beautiful 
forest,  full  of  screaming  paroquets,  and  with  the  wild 
fuchsia  {F.  magellanica)  still  in  bloom,  was  a  small 
abandoned  saw-mill ;  at  another  place  we  saw  human 
beings,  who  fled  as  soon  as  they  caught  sight  of  us. 
They  must  have  had  some  reason  to  hide,  and  probably 
the  uniforms  of  our  naval  officers  frightened  them. 

On  April  16  we  anchored  at  the  entrance  to  Fitzroy 
Channel,  connecting  Otway  and  Skyring.  It  is  a  very 
narrow,  shallow,  and  crooked  passage,  through  which 
the  tide  rushes  at  a  great  speed.  The  passage  entails 
innumerable  changes  of  direction,  soundings,  and  great 
caution.  The  shores  are  flat ;  we  have  entered  the 
pampa  zone,  and  find  the  outposts  of  civilisation  on 
both  sides.  Los  Amigos,  where  we  had  the  doubtful 
pleasure  of  staying  longer  than  we  wished,  can  boast 
of  two  hotels,  stores,  an  American  bar,  and  a  bilUard 
saloon.  We  had  some  work  to  do  there,  as  we  made 
an  interesting  discovery  of  stratified  clay  from  the 
glacial  age,  but  when  we  were  ready  to  leave,  Skyring 
was  not  at  all  willing  to  welcome  us,  to  judge  from  the 
south-westerly  gale,  which  caused  us  to  drag  anchor  more 
than  once.  We  made  an  attempt  to  enter  the  open 
water,  but  encountered  some  heavy  seas,  that  swept 
the  whole  vessel  and  led  us  to  turn  back.  You  must 
not  forget  that  the  Huemul  only  boasts  180  tons  !    Not 


66  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

until  the  22nd  could  we  repeat  the  attempt.  The  waves 
still  swept  over  the  decks,  but  the  north  coast  afiorded 
some  shelter,  and  we  cast  anchor  in  Puerto  Altamirano. 
We  had  gone  westward  again  and  back  to  the  forest. 
Here  lives  the  pioneer  who  has  penetrated  furthest 
\ywest,  a  Frenchman,  M.  Guy  on,  in  his  lonely  block- 
house. Here  he  has  lived  several  years  with  his 
wife  and  his  children,  some  hundreds  of  sheep,  some 
cows  and  hens.  The  house  looked  poor,  but  clean,  and 
the  mistress  made  some  nice  cofiee  and  showed  us  all 
the  kindness  she  could,  insisted  on  our  taking  the  last 
raspberries  in  the  garden,  and  finally  made  us  a  present 
of  a  fine  head  of  cauliflower.  Happy,  contented  people  ! 
We  pressed  their  hands  warmly  when  we  said  "  Good- 
night "  to  them  and  "  Good-bye  "  to  houses  and  people. 

All  traces  of  man  have  not  disappeared,  though  they 
present  themselves  in  a  difierent  way.  It  is  a  bright 
morning  when  we  come  pulling  towards  Isla  Escarpada 
(i.e.,  the  Precipitous  Island)  to  look  for  a  place  to 
land.  And  lo  !  the  clifi  opens,  we  glide  into  a  charming 
cove,  where  the  waves  break  softly  on  the  fine  white  sand, 
and  on  the  shore  is  a  confusion  of  green  Winter's  bark, 
rich  in  f  oHage,  and  high-stemmed  beeches,  clothed  with 
tiny  mosses  and  thin,  elegant  hjinenophylliuns,  thickets 
of  fuchsia  and  large-fronded  ferns.  In  this  peaceful 
paradise  stood  the  skeletons  of  two  Indian  huts  ;  shells, 
bones  of  seals  and  birds  proved  that  they  had  been 
inhabited  not  long  ago.  Could  we  only  have  called  up 
the  wretched  brown  figures,  the  picture  would  have 
been  complete.  This  encounter  with  natives'  work  put 
us  in  a  reflective  mood :  here  was  a  Nature,  stfll  virgin, 


OTWAY  WATER  AND  SKYRING  WATER    67 

with  man  as  one  of  her  numerous  beings,  not  as  the 
absohite  master,  and  here  we  stood,  members  of  the 
white  race  which  makes  all  originality  vanish  under  its 
hands. 

The  landscape  in  the  west  part  of  Skyring  has  a  great 
deal  in  common  with  the  famous  Patagonian  Channels. 
Everywhere  long,  narrow  inlets  penetrate  far  into  the 
Cordilleras.  Some  of  them  are  extremely  beautiful 
and  exhibit  the  true  fiord-nature,  with  the  entrance 
barred  by  a  threshold  and  deep  water  inside  ;  but  the 
steamer  cannot  enter,  and  one  has  to  pull  in  in  small 
yawls.  For  the  most  part  the  scenery  is  perhaps  more 
sombre  than  grand.  Generally  heavy  clouds  rest  on 
the  black,  splintered  crests,  so  heavy  that  even  the  ice- 
fields lose  their  whiteness ;  the  reddish  bogs  and  the 
deep,  dark  forest  patches,  which  cling  to  the  steep  cliffs 
and  get  thicker  and  closer  towards  the  sea,  becoming 
a  soHd,  impenetrable  covering  to  everything  down  to 
the  water  itself,  make  a  solemn  impression.  You  hardly 
hear  a  bird  sing  or  an  insect  hum.  But  even  here 
Nature  may  smile  ;  when  the  sun  rises  over  precipitous 
siunmits,  that  stand  clear  against  the  sky,  and  paints 
the  forest  with  light  green  bands  and  the  snowfields 
with  pink  ;  or  when  the  midday  light  is  reflected  with 
the  splendour  of  diamonds  from  the  glaciers,  where 
caverns  and  cracks  gleam  with  that  magnificent  blue 
colour,  varying  from  deep  cobalt  to  light  ultramarine. 
Then  you  also  notice  all  the  more  minute  details  in  the 
forest,  that  you  hardly  pay  any  attention  to  when  the 
rain  is  pouring  down  and  fog  is  on  the  water.  I  do  not 
speak  as  a  botanist  now,  for  I  naturally  found  the  forest 


68  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

as  interesting  in  the  bad  weather,  and  I  had  every  reason 
to  rejoice  at  the  results  of  my  studies  in  Skyring.  The 
geologists  also  were  contented ;  they  got  a  natural 
section  through  the  mountains,  older  layers  appearing 
as  one  proceeds  westwards. 

We  still  hoped  to  meet  Indians.  In  many  places  we 
^  i  found  abandoned  huts,  but  never  the  natives.  We  had 
heard  of  a  passage  made  by  Indians  from  Excelsior 
Inlet  to  Obstruction  Sound,  and  spent  a  day  visiting 
it.  The  inlet  is  barred  and  the  ship  had  to  stop  outside. 
We  found  the  way,  but  I  shall  tell  of  it  in  another 
connection. 

Estero  de  los  Ventisqueros,  the  Glacier  Inlet,  is  one 
of  the  longest  and  most  narrow,  penetrating  south- south- 
west far  into  the  Muiioz  Gamero  Peninsula.  Its  innermost 
part  was  hardly  known,  which  gave  us  a  special  reason 
for  going  there.  The  entrance  is  very  narrow,  and  has 
the  character  of  a  rapid  stream.  Up  it  we  forced  our 
way  between  stones  and  heavy  logs.  The  stream  seemed 
to  us  somewhat  strange,  and  we  were  not  surprised  to 
find  the  water  in  the  inlet  fresh,  a  lake  having  been 
formed  where  the  tide  played  no  part.  Between  impos- 
ing mountains,  clad  with  snow  and  glaciers,  we  pulled 
towards  the  end,  round  a  point  that  has  shut  ofi  the 
interior,  where  was  the  gigantic  glacier,  stretching  a 
tongue  out  into  the  water,  which  is  full  of  ice.  The 
ice-wall  is  about  half  a  mile  broad,  and  has  a  height 
of  about  90  feet.  We  spent  some  hours  here  collecting, 
and  late  in  the  evening  came  back  on  board  very  pleased 
with  our  day  and  anxiously  waiting  for  the  next,  when 
we  were  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  Gajardo  Channel. 


OTWAY  WATER  AND  SKYRING  WATER    69 

The  outer  part  produced  the  same  impression  as  the 
other  inlets  we  had  seen,  but  it  gradually  became  very 
narrow,  and  finally  no  passage  could  be  found.  We 
had  reached  the  place  called  Angostura  de  los  Tempanos, 
or  Icefloe  Narrows,  where  even  rowing-boats  can  hardly 
pass.  Here  the  tidal  current  rushes  through  a  narrow 
gorge  over  stones  and  reefs  at  a  speed  of  up  to  eight 
knots.  Heaps  of  ice  from  the  surrounding  glaciers  are 
brought  to  and  fro  through  the  Narrows,  and  have  given 
rise  to  its  geographical  name. 

The  Huemul  anchored  close  to  the  cliff,  a  boat  was 
lowered,  and  we  set  out  to  pull  through ;  we  had  the 
tide  against  us,  though  not  with  its  full  force,  and  hardly 
got  away  from  the  spot  in  spite  of  eight  men  at  the  four 
oars.  At  great  risk  we  got  past  the  whirlpools  round 
the  shallow  places.  Excitement  could  be  read  in  all 
faces,  and  with  loud  "  hurrahs "  we  came  out  into 
calmer  water.  To  our  right  a  small  inlet  opened,  and 
as  we  rounded  the  point  the  sight  of  the  glacier  in  the 
background  called  forth  renewed  cheers.  I  think  I 
have  seen  much  ice  in  all  shapes  and  forms,  but  hardly 
anything  that  made  so  strong  an  impression  on  me.  In 
frozen  cascades  it  comes  through  a  narrow  chasm, 
broadens  out  again,  and  protrudes  into  the  green,  trans- 
parent water  with  a  tongue  100  feet  high,  crowned  by 
millions  of  fantastic  needles.  Hardly  a  fleck  on  it,  but 
what  a  play  of  bright  colours — Prussian  blue,  ultra- 
marine, and  cobalt !  In  silence  we  rested  on  the  oars, 
watching  the  sight.  There  was  a  narrow  crevice  in  the 
rock  at  the  edge  of  the  ice  where  we  could  land  ;  on  one 
side  we  had  the  glacier,  on  the  other  the  high  ice-clad 


70  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

cliff  ;  huge  pieces  had  fallen  down  where  we  now  stood. 
As  the  place  looked  dangerous,  we  hurried  on  with  our 
observations ;  now  and  again  the  big  glacier  discharged 
large  pieces  of  ice,  giving  rise  to  a  swell,  that  made  our 
position  uncomfortable.  Quensel  got  specimens  of  the 
rocks.  Halle  and  I  found  some  Alpine  plants  that 
thrive  at  sea-level,  refreshed  by  the  cool  breath  from 
the  icy  surroundings. 

We  had  just  left  when  with  thunder  a  large  ice-block 
plunged  down  into  the  water,  followed  by  a  wave  so 
great  that  an  accident  might  easily  have  happened 
had  we  remained  there  ;  the  place  was  swept  by  water 
and  pieces  of  ice,  and  we  had  trouble  enough  to  keep 
the  boat  clear  from  the  rock  where  we  landed  to  watch 
the  imposing  spectacle.  As  we  did  not  want  to  stop 
with  the  ship  near  the  Narrows,  the  anchorage  being 
miserable,  we  resolved  to  go  back.  Pulling  along  the 
cliff,  where  a  hanging  glacier  looked  down  on  us  from 
above,  happily  enough  without  paying  us  any  other 
attention,  we  arrived  at  the  critical  place,  and  beheld 
a  sight  not  particularly  encouraging.  Our  calculations 
had  failed ;  the  current  had  turned  and  rushed  full  speed 
in  the  opposite  direction,  playing  with  the  icefloes  that 
were  on  their  way  to  the  other  side  of  the  pass.  We 
tried,  but  were  caught  by  a  whirlpool,  and  were  only 
saved  by  the  efforts  of  the  oarsmen  from  being  crushed 
against  the  rocks.  We  crossed  and  landed  on  the  east 
side,  and  climbed  the  rocks  to  look  at  the  surroundings. 
On  the  other  side  it  was  not  possible  to  get  along,  on 
this  we  could  certainly  pass  if  we  kept  at  a  height  of 
30  to  50  feet  above  the  water  ;  we  should  thus  be  able 


OTWAY  WATEB  AND  SKYRING  WATER    71 

to  get  down  on  the  north  side  and  signal  to  the  ship. 
But  the  boat  ?  We  could  not  leave  it  there.  We  had 
almost  made  up  our  minds  to  wait  five  or  six  hours 
when  Pagels  made  a  suggestion :  he  thought  it  possible, 
though  dangerous,  to  climb  along  the  precipice,  dragging 
the  boat  by  the  painter,  which  was  rather  long.  Step 
by  step  we  advanced.  It  was  not  easy  to  find  foothold ; 
the  tiniest  shelf  was  taken  advantage  of  ;  our  fingers 
grasped  the  smallest  irregularities  on  the  face  of  the  high, 
precipitous  clifi.  The  boat  seemed  to  cling  to  every 
iiTegularity  or  projection ;  the  current  pressed  it  against 
the  cliff  with  such  force  that  some  of  us  had  to  jump 
into  it,  cutting  our  fingers  in  trying  to  fend  it  off.  We 
got  past  the  worst  rapids  and  gained  a  place  where  the 
mountain  sloped  gradually  down  to  the  water.  Another 
critical  moment :  we  all  embarked,  only  Pagels,  firmly 
squatted  on  his  broad  hams,  pipe  in  mouth,  still  grasped 
the  painter.  Ready  with  the  oars  !  Pagels  swung  the 
bow  round,  jiunped  into  the  boat,  and  at  the  same 
instant  four  oars  dipped  and  strained  against  the 
current.  The  least  carelessness  and  the  boat  would 
have  been  hm^led  back  into  the  rapids  again.  A 
last  effort,  making  the  oarsmen  drip  with  sweat 
in  spite  of  the  cold  weather,  and  we  were  back  on 
board. 

It  was  too  late  to  look  for  a  new  anchorage.  We 
lay  in  a  very  disagreeable  and  rather  unsafe  place,  the 
bottom  being  rock  and  the  water  deep  close  to  the  shore, 
where  several  shoals  unexpectedly  appeared.  Now 
and  then  a  strong  puff  of  wind  came  from  the  high 
mountains,  giving  us  a  foretaste  of  the  weather  we  should 


72  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

get.  We  had  hardly  got  on  board  when  the  ship  went 
adrift ;  hastily  we  got  sufficient  pressure  in  the  boilers 
to  heave  up  and  anchor  again.  There  was  not  much 
repose  on  board  that  night.  It  was  pitch-dark,  the 
channel  narrow,  the  current  strong,  and  the  shore 
dangerous.  The  captain  had  thrown  himself  on  a  sofa 
with  his  clothes  on,  and  we  were  disturbed  by  heavy 
boots  tramping  over  our  heads,  and  every  ten  minutes 
soundings  were  taken  in  order  to  see  if  we  were  drifting. 
At  5  A.M.  I  heard  the  noise  of  heavy  squalls,  and  noticed 
that  the  vessel  trembled  in  a  curious  manner,  as  if  she 
were  aground.  I  fell  asleep  once  more,  but  woke  up 
with  the  engines  working  at  full  speed  and  the  hull 
shaking  terribly.  I  was  right ;  we  had  dragged  anchor 
and  struck  a  flat  rock,  not  more  than  100  feet  from  the 
shore.  With  the  engines  alone  we  made  no  progress, 
but  we  tried  a  kedge  with  better  result.  Nothing 
serious  had  happened,  and  in  the  grey  dawn  we  steamed 
out  of  Gajardo  Channel. 

A  few  words  on  the  peculiar  hydrographic  and  bio- 
logical conditions  in  Skyring  Water  might  be  of  some 
interest.  As  the  narrow  and  shallow  Fitzroy  and 
Gajardo  Channels  are  its  only  connection  with  other 
water,  the  tide  is  hardly  noticeable,  the  difference  being 
only  some  few  inches.  From  glaciers  and  rivers  volumes 
of  fresh  water  are  discharged  into  Skyring,  and  the 
result  is  brackish  water.  That  the  organic  life  is  in- 
fluenced thereby  is  evident :  the  plant  life  is  different, 
seaweeds  are  miserable,  no  big  kelp  is  found,  and  animal 
life  is  very  poor. 

In  the  central  and  east  part  of  the  large  water  several 


OTWAY  WATER  AND  SKYRING  WATER    73 

landings  were  left,  and  we  crossed  from  north  to  south 
and  vice  versa  a  niunber  of  tunes.  The  country  further 
east  has  nothing  of  the  wild  beauty  of  the  west,  but  is 
not  less  interesting.  The  tertiary  layers  were  surveyed 
by  Halle  at  two  places,  Mina  Magdalena  and  Mina 
Marta.  On  the  last-mentioned  place  you  may  see  a 
Patagonian  mining  enterprise  in  its  last  stage — ^ruined 
houses,  rusty  machinery  strewn  all  over  the  ground. 
The  coal  was  no  coal,  which  the  "  engineers  "  did  not 
discover  till  everything  was  ready  for  a  start,  but  lignite, 
whose  value  may  be  scientific,  but  hardly  more.  Halle 
found  plenty  of  fossils. 

When  we  came  back  to  Los  Amigos  we  wanted  to 
make  some  additional  excursions  in  Otway  Water,  but 
unhappily  there  is  a  telephone  line  to  Puiita  Arenas, 
and  the  admiral  requested  us  to  return  as  soon  as  we 
could. 

This  made  us  pass  Jerome  Channel  at  night ;  the 
captain  did  not  like  it,  but  he  had  been  asked  to  do  it, 
if  possible.  We  were  not  very  pleased  at  returning  so 
soon.  It  was  a  fine  evening ;  we  had  crossed  Otway 
Water,  and  the  Huemul  made  its  way  along  the  coast 
of  the  Jerome  Channel,  where  mountain  and  water 
merge  into  black  darkness.  We  were  approaching  the 
outlet,  when  the  engine  suddenly  stopped.  The  current 
is  in  our  favour,  thus  giving  us  a  moment's  breathing- 
space.  What's  the  matter  ?  The  engineer  does  not 
know ;  something  has  gone  wrong ;  he  cannot  risk  going 
any  further.  "But  we  shall  drift  ashore  within  a 
minute  or  two,"  the  captain  shouts ;  "  we  must  continue." 
Again  we  try,  very  slowly  ;  a  noise  of  thunder  is  heard 


74  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

from  the  big  cylinder,  as  if  the  cap  would  burst.  A 
conference  is  held.  We  cannot  reach  a  safe  harbour  ; 
the  nearest  is  Arauz  Bay,  but  the  water  is  dirty  there, 
and  it  is  not  sheltered  from  the  prevailing  wind.  How- 
ever, we  try  again,  and  being  outside  the  harbour  a 
yawl  is  sent  ahead  to  make  soundings,  and  by  means 
of  fire-signals  the  officer  in  it  leads  us  to  an  anchorage. 

The  damage  proved  to  be  very  serious.  We  had 
broken  the  shaft,  and  there  could  be  no  thought  of  repair- 
ing it  here  ;  all  we  could  do  was  to  keep  it  tight  till  we 
could  reach  Punta  Arenas.  Good  luck  had  helped  us 
hitherto — had  it  happened  haH  an  hour  earlier  we  might 
have  lost  the  ship — but  we  still  wanted  a  good  deal. 
The  bay  is  open  to  the  south-west.  If  a  gale  comes 
now,  when  our  fires  are  out — what  can  we  do  ?  We 
had  good  luck  ;  all  the  time  the  rare  north  wind  blew  ! 
After  working  without  a  moment's  stop  for  thirty  hours 
the  clever  engineer  declared  all  to  be  ready,  and  on  the 
evening  of  May  4  we  were  back  in  Punta  Arenas  again. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  PATAGONIAN  CHANNELS 

The  scheme  proposed  for  the  next  excursion  was  a 
cruise  in  the  Patagonian  Channels  between  the  Magellan 
Straits  and  the  Penas  Gulf,  during  which  we  wanted 
to  pay  more  particular  attention  to  the  natives.  As 
Halle  could  expect  little  if  any  result  from  a  trip  in  these 
parts,  it  was  resolved  that  he  should  take  up  his  work 
elsewhere  and  meet  us  in  Ancud,  on  Chiloe,  in  the  begin- 
ning of  July.  On  May  9  he  departed  for  Rio  Grande, 
in  Tierra  del  Fuego,  whence  he  brought  back  fine  collec- 
tions of  tertiary  fossils.  After  his  retm'n  to  Punta 
Arenas  he  travelled  on  horseback  along  the  Brunswick 
Peninsula  to  the  place  where  Darwin  long  ago  collected 
the  first  specimens  of  Magellan  fossils. 

Our  expedition,  however,  got  another  member.  On 
several  occasions  I  had  discussed  the  Channel  trip  with 
one  of  our  new  friends,  Captain  Jose  Bordes,  filoto 
mayor  in  the  Chilean  navy,  and  intimately  acquainted 
with  those  parts  and  their  population.  He  very  much 
wanted  to  go  with  us,  but  could  not,  of  course,  simply 
leave  his  service,  and  he  proposed  that  I  should  ask 
permission  for  him  from  the  senior  in  command  of  the 
navy,  Vice-Admiral  Montt,  in  Valparaiso.  The  latter 
readily  granted  my  request,  and  Bordes  got  a  telegraphic 
order  to  take  part  in  the  expedition. 

75 


76  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

But  at  first  it  seemed  difficult  to  get  a  suitable  vessel. 
Admiral  Eojas  declared  with  a  smile  that  the  expedition 
had  already  accounted  for  one  ship,  viz.,  the  Huemul, 
and  besides  she  would  have  been  too  small  and  un- 
comfortable for  an  extended  journey.  Of  the  two  other 
vessels  stationed  at  Punta  Arenas,  one  was  of  no  use 
to  us,  but  the  other,  the  Meteoro,  a  twin-screw  steamer 
of  650  tons,  very  well  fulfilled  our  requirements.  Un- 
fortunately, she  was  bound  for  a  run  to  San  Felix  Light- 
house, taking  with  her  an  engineer,  sent  by  the  Govern- 
ment to  effect  the  preparatory  work  for  the  proposed 
Marconi  installation  between  Valparaiso  and  Punta 
Arenas.  All  telegrams  between  the  Magellan  territories 
and  the  rest  of  Chile  have  to  pass  Argentina,  an  ordinary 
overland  wire  being  an  impossibility  and  a  submarine 
cable  being  considered  too  expensive.  After  her  return 
to  Punta  Arenas,  the  Meteoro  had  to  visit  the  Evaiir_ 


gelistas  lighthouse,  and  thus  it  would  be  a  long  time 
before  she  could  be  at  our  disposal.  Through  the  kind- 
ness of  the  authorities  the  difficulties  were  surmounted  ; 
I  proposed  that  we  should  take  part  of  the  expedition 
to  the  Evangelistas  rocks,  and  from  there  proceed 
directly  to  the  Channels,  and  the  Admiral  assented. 
This  was  rather  an  advantage,  for  we  won  another 
station  which  we  had  never  hoped  for.  Still  one  small 
difficulty  remained  :  we  wanted  to  get  an  interpreter, 
a  Spanish-speaking  Indian,  but  could  not  get  one  in 
Punta  Arenas.  We  had  to  put  ofi  this  quest,  and 
Bordes  told  us  he  would  try  to  persuade  one  or  other 
of  his  Indian  acquaintances  in  the  Straits  to  come 
with  us. 


THE  PATAGONIAN  CHANNELS  77 

On  May  21  we  left  the  sunshine  behind  and  once  more 
disappeared  in  the  rainy  west.  We  anchored  in  Port 
Gallant,  where  Indians  used  to  pass,  selling  their  otter- 
skins  to  an  Austrian,  who  lives  there,  and  has  done  so 
for  many  years,  with  a  native  woman.  Few  Indians 
were  there  now,  but  amongst  them  was  a  middle-aged 
woman,  who  knew  Bordes  very  well  and  had  great  con- 
fidence in  him.  At  first  she  had  strong  apprehensions 
about  coming  with  us,  and  it  required  all  Bordes' 
eloquence  to  persuade  her  to  take  the  decisive  step  on 
to  the  deck  of  the  Meteoro.  I  now  have  the  honour  of 
introducing  to  my  reader  Mrs.  Akichakwarrakwjlte§^— 
thus  she  calls  herself.  Her  mission  name,  Emilia,  is 
more  handy,  though  not  so  euphonious.  She  became 
quite  an  indispensable  assistant ;  she  persuaded  her 
countrymen  to  come  on  board,  explaining  that  the 
instruments  were  not  to  torture  them  with,  that  we 
were  no  "  Cristianos  malos  " — evil  Christians — which 
words  are  inseparably  associated  in  the  mouth  of  a 
Channel  Indian.  Every  evening  I  sat  with  her  in  the 
laboratory,  she  always  crouching  on  one  of  the  plant- 
presses,  trying  to  teach  me  a  little  of  her  marvellous 
language,  compared  with  which  both  Irish  and  Scotch 
appear  quite  civilized  tongues.  Unfortunately,  her 
knowledge  of  Spanish  was  too  superficial  for  gram- 
matical studies,  and  I  had  to  be  very  patient  to  make 
her  understand.  A  great  drawback  was  that  in 
Spanish  she  always  spoke  of  herself  in  the  third  person, 
as  children  often  do. 

It  was  funny  enough  to  study  her  in  her  new  surround- 
ings.   She  came  on  board  dressed  in  some  queer  rags 


78  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

and  with  naked  legs,  and  we  could  not  help  laughing 
when  she  walked  about  like  a  fine  lady  in  a  grey  gown 
trimmed  with  red  velvet,  and  a  green  cape,  over  which 
her  black  hair  fell  thick  and  wild.  And  in  this  dress 
she  became  a  member  of  the  Swedish  Magellan  Expedi- 
tion. At  first  she  did  not  seem  very  pleased  with  her 
new  life,  walked  alone,  silent,  and  almost  ill-humoured, 
but  we  soon  gained  her  confidence,  and  she  gradually 
became  more  communicative.  One  night  when,  as 
usual,  we  were  sitting  up  talking  I  wormed  some  of  her 
story  out  of  her.  She  had  been  caught  by  the  mis- 
sionaries and  was  brought  to  Dawson  Island  with  her 
husband  and  children.  She  had  three  of  them,  one  so 
big,  one  so  big,  and  the  third  so — she  measured  with 
her  hand  above  the  deck — and  "  she  was  such  a  nice 
little  girl,"  she  added.  But  they  lived  in  a  "  bad 
house  "  ;  all  fell  ill  and  died,  and  she  was  left  alone. 
How  she  managed  to  get  away  from  Dawson  Island 
I  do  not  know  ;  anyhow  I  congratulated  her.  She 
did  not  want  to  go  back. 

The  Meteor 0  heads  west.  More  and  more  barren 
grows  the  landscape,  more  and  more  dwarfed  the  forest, 
colder  the  storm  and  fog.  We  have  left  the  continuous 
coast  and  steam  through  the  archipelago.  Home, 
sweet  home !  Hundreds  and  thousands  of  islands, 
skerries,  rocks,  with  a  cluster  of  stunted  trees  on  the 
lee  side,  smooth  rocks  with  some  grass  where  only  sea- 
birds  breed.  We  have  left  the  untidy  slate  and  have 
reached  the  granite  zone,  where  the  glacial  epoch  has 
created  the  same  skerry-nature  as  in  Sweden.  The 
more  we  look  the  stronger  grows   the    likeness  ;    we 


THE  PATAGONIAN  CHANNELS  79 

dream  ourselves  far  away,  the  beeches  become  Scotch 
firs,  the  foreign  sea-birds  our  common  eiders  and 
gulls.  .  .  . 

We  made  for  a  harbour  in  the  offing.  With  Bordcs 
on  board  we  could  make  short  cuts  not  marked  in  the 
charts,  through  interesting  passages  and  narrow  channels 
not  exceeding  300  feet  broad,  and  in  some  places  so 
narrow  that  we  almost  touched  the  fringe  of  giant  kelp 
(Macrocystis)  on  each  side,  aad  anchored  in  Puerto 
Cuarenta  Dias,  the  Forty  Days'  Harbour — a  name  that 
holds  a  story  :  here  a  vessel  is  said  to  have  waited  forty 
days  before  it  could  approach  the  Evangelistas  rocks. 
This  perhaps  is  somewhat  exaggerated — ^I  dare  not 
dispute  it ;  anyhow,  a  week's  waiting  is  not  a  rare  occur- 
rence. For  us  it  was  of  the  utmost  importance  to  land 
on  the  rock  without  delay,  otherwise  the  whole  voyage 
through  the  channels  might  be  a  failure.  No  wonder 
that  we  watched  the  daybreak  on  May  26  with  great 
anxiety.  We  had  enjoyed  light  breezes  from  north  and 
east,  rare  but  all  the  more  welcome  for  that,  and  cal- 
culated that  subsequently  the  regular  westerly  swell — 
nothing  less  than  the  whole  Pacific  Ocean  ! — Would  have 
died  down  enough  to  make  landing  possible. 

Kain  and  a  grey,  thick  sky  and  a  water  like  lead  met 
us  as  we  swung  out  through  the  last  skerries  and  made 
for  some  black  spots  on  the  horizon.  These  are  the 
famous  Evangelistas  rocks.  Through  the  glasses  the 
lighthouse  can  be  seen.  The  motion  of  the  sea  is  com- 
paratively gentle,  and  the  occasion  seems  to  be  favour- 
able ;  however,  it  is  no  child's  play  to  land  there.  We 
pass  the  black  Pan  de  Azucar  (Sugar-loaf),  and  the 


80  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

Meteoro  anchors  in  deep  water  between  two  high,  black 
slate  rocks,  one  of  them  crowned  by  a  small  lighthouse. 
We  went  with  the  iSirst  boat,  steered  by  the  steady  hands 
of  the  boatswain  over  the  soft  switchback  of  swell 
towards  the  point  of  the  rock  that  is  honoured  by  the 
name  of  landing-place  ;  were  it  not  for  the  name  nobody 
would  suspect  it.    The  sea  does  not  break  there,  but 
only  plays  with  the  boat.    One  moment  we  are  lifted 
high  up,  the  gunwale  scratching  the  rock,  the  next  the 
retiriag  wave  bears  the  boat  back  deep  down  among 
the  giant  kelp-masses,  now  for  a  second  laid  bare  like 
innumerable  slimy  serpents,  that  the  capricious  surf 
winds  into  graceful  patterns.    Right  above  our  head 
rises  a  rough  slate  wall  about  30  or  40  feet  high,  and 
some  men  stand  on  the  top  of  it,  waving  their  hands — 
presumably  they  are  glad  to  see  us.    A  rope  hangs 
down  in  a  long  loop,  by  which  means  the  boat  is  kept 
in  place,  and  we  are  told  to  use  it  as  we  climb.     Bordes 
is  the  first  to  try,  old  and  used  to  it  as  he  is.    The  main 
thing  is  to  mind  one's  p's  and  q's  :   when  a  wave  lifts 
the  boat  up  to  the  cliff  one  must  jump,  without  losing 
a  second,  on  to  a  shelf  two  or  three  inches  wide,  slippery 
with  green  algse — without  the  rope  one  could  hardly 
keep  one's  footing.    If  you  do  not  want  the  next  wave 
to  attack  you  in  the  rear  you  had  better  look  lively, 
climbing  and  crawling  with  the  assistance  of  projections 
and  the  rope  :  finally  you  are  on  safe  ground  and  have 
"  gone  on  shore  "  on  Evangelistas.    We  had  but  one 
adventure.      A    young  officer  got  a  cold  bath  when 
he  jumped,  that  was  all. 
The  three  lighthouse-keepers  gave  us  a  hearty  welcome. 


THE  PATAGONIAN  CHANNELS  81 

No  wonder  ;  a  worse  prison  than  theirs  it  is  difficult  to 
conceive.  Even  on  a  short  visit  like  ours  one  feels  a 
certain  oppression,  as  of  a  prisoner  behind  a  curtain 
waved  by  storm  and  rain.  A  high,  for  the  most  part 
quite  barren,  rock,  steep  on  all  sides ;  the  vegetation  a 
swampy  moss-peat,  giving  way  to  the  pressure  of  your 
feet ;  a  small  lighthouse,  trembling  in  the  frightful 
gales  which  give  these  parts  of  the  world  their  bad 
reputation  ;  day  after  day  drowned  in  floods  of  rain 
mingled  with  the  sprinkle  of  the  breakers  ;  many  miles 
from  the  nearest  shore,  hundreds  from  civilization, 
from  which  a  message  is  sent  some  few  times  every  year, 
when  (always  with  difficulties  and  often  with  dangers) 
provisions  are  landed — that  is  what  life  on  Evangelistas 
is  like  !  I  should  not  advise  anybody  with  a  melancholy 
turn  of  mind  to  settle  there. 
4CJt  was  interesting  to  find  the  slates  again  so  far  west — • 
'  on  very  few  places  do  they  appear  outside  the  granite 
zone.  We  had  soon  collected  specimens  of  the  poor, 
miserable,  and  scanty  plants  and  animals,  but  it  was 
long  before  all  the  stores  had  been  landed.  They  were 
hoisted  up  with  a  deriick,  worked  by  hand,  and  conse- 
quently so  slow  that  people  prefer  the  more  hazardous 
ascent  on  their  hands  and  knees.  It  is  curious  to  think 
how  the  iron  supports,  not  to  speak  of  all  the  materials 
for  the  lighthouse,  were  ever  landed.  The  story  of  the 
lighthouse  would  be  worth  a  special  chapter. 

Sitting  on  a  bag,  we  allowed  ourselves  to  be  lowered 

by  the  tiny  wire  down  into  the  boat,  that  with  great 

I  care  was  kept  beneath  us,  60  feet  below — a  quick  as  well 

as  a  comfortable  manner  of  getting  away  from  the  island. 


82  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAaONIA 

Ou  board  the  captain  was  more  anxious  than  ever.  The 
winter  days  are  short,  the  mist  was  not  far  ofi,  and  we 
must  reach  Cuarenta  Dias  before  nightfall.  When  at 
3  P.M.  we  weighed  anchor  the  fog  was  already  so  dense 
that  the  islands  were  lost  to  sight  within  a  few  minutes. 
The  water  here  in  the  offing  is  very  dirty ;  we  tried  to 
make  Cape  King,  but  the  current  played  us  a  trick  and 
suddenly  some  nasty  black  needles  loomed  out  of  the 
thick  veil  on  the  port  side  ;  we  were  amidst  the  reefs — 
within  the  ''danger-line."  The  course  was  changed; 
Bordes  was  persistent  and  we  tried  again ;  but  night 
came  on,  and  we  were  forced  to  spend  it  running  to  and 
fro  in  the  entrance  of  the  Magellan  Straits,  guided  by 
the  flashes  from  the  wee  lighthouse,  that  has  saved  more 
than  one  vessel  from  making  nearer  acquaintance  with 
the  ill-famed  Cape  Pillar. 

The  next  day  we  could  start  our  work  in  the  Queen 
Adelaide    group,    where    many    detailed   geographical 
observations  are  still  waiting  to  be  made.    We  visited 
Pacheco  Island  and  went  out  by  Anita  Channel — just  at 
the  most  difficult  spot — when  a  fog,  so  thick  and  white 
that  we  could  not  see  the  rocks  close  at  hand,  descended 
over  the  water.    Of  comse  there  is  no  danger  of  collision  ; 
nevertheless  it  caused  some  anxiety  among  the  officers. 
The  fog  vanished  as  quickly  as  it  had  come,  and  we 
proceeded  to  Viel  Channel,  where  for  the  first  time  we 
met  the  Indians  in  their  natural  state.    They  were  very 
shy,  and  refused  to  come  on  board.  We  continued  east, 
crossed  Smyth  Channel,  and  anchored  in  a  harbour 
called  Puerto  Ramirez,  on  the  Munoz  Gamero  Peninsula, 
the  only  spot  inhabited  by  white  men  between  the 


THE  PATAGONIAN  CHANNELS  83 

Straits  and  the  Gulf  of  Penas.  Several  years  ago,  when 
Chile  and  Argentina  were  at  odds  with  each  other,  the 
former  country  made  a  coaling-station  here,  and  some 
sheds  with  coal  are  still  left,  guarded  by  two  watchmen. 
Later  on  we  had  good  reason  to  bless  this  coal-store. 

By  the  last  day  of  May  we  were  again  under  way, 
steaming  northward  through  the  Channels.  Few  places 
in  Patagonia  are  so  famous  as  these  Channels,  where  the 
steamer  plunges  between  black,  steep  walls,  crowned 
by  snowy  peaks  reflected  in  the  usually  smooth  water, 
where  the  open  sea  is  never  sighted,  where  one  need  not 
be  afraid  of  storm  or  fog,  when  one  has  only  to  seek  one 
of  the  numerous,  charming  little  harbours.  One  can 
travel  from  53'^  to  48°,  a  distance  of  6°,  without  seeing 
the  ocean  !  Where  in  the  world  is  there  anything  like 
it  ?  What  a  pity  that  sunshine  and  a  clear  sky  are  of 
rare  occurrence  ;  for  days  and  weeks  the  rain  does  not 
cease,  and  a  cold,  wet  fog  rests  over  the  water.  The 
Channels  have  been  compared  with  the  Norwegian 
fiords.  As  far  as  the  numerous  inlets  running  east 
from  the  Channels  into  the  mountains  are  concerned,  I 
think  that  this  comparison  is  obvious,  even  if  we  treat 
them  from  a  geographical  point  of  view.  But  in  the 
outer  appearance  there  is  a  big  difference.  In  Patagonia 
Death  seems  to  reiga.  The  Channels  are  so  silent ;  most 
of  the  sea-birds,  such  as  gulls,  Cape  pigeons,  albatrosses, 
and  others  that  give  life  to  the  picture  in  the  open  sea 
have  disappeared;  so  have  the  porpoises  which  play 
merrily  round  the  bows  ;  only  some  kelp-geese,  ducks, 
or  patovapores  are  still  to  be  seen.  But  the  forest  is 
magnificent,  in  spite  of  the  utter  silence  prevailing  there. 


84  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

My  work  took  me  there  every  day,  and  every  night  I 
returned  on  board  with  a  fresh  stock  of  experience  and 
collections.  Sometimes  the  beech — naturally  always 
the  evergreen  one — leaves  room  for  yellow  and  reddish 
swamps,  where  the  only  needle-tree  of  South  Patagonia, 
Libocedrus  tetragona,  grows.  People  here  caU  it  the 
cypress.  Large  ferns  with  arboreous  growth  (Blechnum 
magellanicum)  are  noteworthy.  As  usual,  flowers  are 
rare,  but  there  is  one,  the  southern  "  copihue,"  Philesia 
huxifolia,  which  flowers  also  during  midwinter,  that  with 
its  large  pink  bells  is  almost  unrivalled.  To  one  thing 
the  botanist  has  to  accustom  himself  :  to  return  every 
day  as  soaked  as  is  the  forest  itself. 

In  the  Sarmiento  Channel,  the  continuation  of  Smyth 
Channel,  we  met  several  Indians  ;  two  canoes  with 
their  crews  we  took  on  board  and  brought  to  Puerto 
Bueno,  where  we  stayed  two  days.  Between  Chatham 
and  Hanover  Islands,  in  a  narrow  place  called  Guia 
Narrows,  we  met  another  canoe  ;  a  naked  girl  angrily 
repeated  "Cristiano  malo,"  and  the  crew  could  not 
be  persuaded  to  come  on  board.  Probably  they  had 
been  badly  treated  by  some  passing  sailors. 

The  traffic  in  the  Channels  is  very  small  nowadays. 
Almost  all  ships  prefer  to  take  the  open  sea,  where  they 
may  steam  day  and  night,  which  is  hardly  possible  in 
the  Channels,  but  one  of  the  greatest  pleasures  on  a  cruise 
round  South  America  is  lost  thereby. 

At  about  51°  we  noticed  a  certain  change  in  the  vegeta- 
tion. New  trees  and  bushes  appeared,  especiallya  curious 
needle-tree  called  -maniu  (in  this  case  Podocarpus  nubi- 
gena),  and  beautiful  climbing  plants  covered  the  trunks. 


THE  PATAGONIAN  CHANNELS  86 

When  passing  Inocentes  Channel  one  comes  out  into 
more  open  water,  but  only  for  a  very  short  distance  ; 
soon  the  high  walls  close  in  on  both  sides  again.  Penguin 
Inlet  was  full  of  ice,  and  in  Icy  Eeach  we  met  innumer- 
able small  ice-floes,  probably  from  Eyre  Inlet,  one  of 
the  unknown  inlets  on  this  coast.  Not  far  from  there, 
in  Port  Grappler,  we  came  across  the  largest  party  of 
Indians  we  saw.  They  had  probably  had  disagreeable 
experiences  with  white  people — it  is  not  uncommon  for 
unscrupulous  people  to  try  to  obtain  their  only  valuable 
possession,  the  otter- skins,  without  giving  them  any- 
thing useful  in  return ;  they  sometimes  ill-treat  them, 
seduce  their  women,  or  rob  them  of  their  children — 
but  thanks  to  the  energetic  efforts  of  Emilia  we  got  on 
rather  friendly  terms  with  them,  giving  them  what  we 
had  of  spare  clothes,  biscuits,  tobacco,  knives,  matches, 
and  other  things  highly  appreciated  by  them.  On 
June  7  we  reached  the  English  Narrows,  a  very  narrow, 
S-shaped  passage,  where  more  than  one  vessel  has  struck. 
The  masts  of  one  were  still  to  be  seen.  In  the  eighties 
a  German  expedition  tried  to  find  another  passage — 
at  that  time  the  Kosmos  steamers  used  to  frequent  the 
Channels — and  discovered  quite  a  system  of  channels 
west  of  the  main  track,  but  unfortunately  they  are 
interrupted  by  a  place  much  worse  still,  where  the  open 
sea  rolls  in,  and  which  is  so  shallow  that  breakers  are 
often  experienced,  and  one  may  have  to  wait  several  days 
for  a  chance  of  crossing.  We  intended  to  run  this  way 
on  our  return ;  now  we  proceeded  further  along  the 
Messier  Channel,  and  thus  reached  our  destination,  the 
Gulf  of  Penas.    Towards  the  east  a  large  system  of 


86  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

inlets,  Baker  Inlet  with  its  branches,  penetrating  far 
into  the  mountains,  opened,  and  there  we  turned  in. 
For  several  days  we  had  discussed  the  coal  question, 
and  as  the  captain  argued  that  we  should  be  unable  to 
reach  Punta  Arenas  we  gave  up  the  idea  of  going  to  the 
mouth  of  Rio  Baker,  with  the  greater  regret  as  we  were 
not  far  from  it. 

In  terrible  squalls  we  passed  Troya  Channel  and  turned 
westward,  when  we  suddenly  caught  sight  of  a  sailing- 
boat.  We  guessed  it  to  be  people  from  the  Baker 
Company,  a  Chilean  enterprise,  which  has  the  leasehold 
of  large  stretches  round  the  river  from  the  inlet  to  the 
Argentina  frontier.  Of  course  we  stopped  at  once,  took 
the  crew  on  board,  and  towed  their  boat  to  a  harbour. 

Baker  Inlet  is  a  very  wild-looking  place.  In  con- 
sequence of  its  west-easterly  direction  the  gales  rush 
through  it  with  unrestrained  force,  and  the  forest  has 
been  driven  back  into  sheltered  places,  where  the  company 
has  cut  down  the  big  trees.  In  the  coves  one  can  find 
scenery  of  charming  beauty,  where  the  slopes  with  woods, 
cascades,  and  snow-patches  are  reflected  in  the  smooth, 
icy-green  water.  When  one  enters  such  a  cove,  coming 
from  the  windy  barrenness  of  the  chaanel,  one  gets 
the  same  feeling  as  coming  into  a  warm,  comfortable 
room  from  the  snowstorm  outside. 

As  we  very  much  wanted  to  visit  some  of  the  channels 
outside  the  Wellington  Islands,  we  crossed  Messier 
Channel  on  June  12  and  passed  into  Albatross  Channel. 
Here  every  name  on  the  chart  indicates  that  it  was 
given  by  sons  of  das  grosse  Vaterland.  The  weather 
was  terrible,  and  we  walked  about  wet  and  cold  all  day 


THE  PATAGONIAN  CHANNELS  87 

long,  but  otherwise  contented,  as  every  day  brought 
new  features  under  our  observation.  On  account  of 
the  poor  store  of  coal  we  had  to  abandon  our  plan  of 
going  round  Wellington  Islands,  but  followed  Fallos 
Channel  only  to  the  mouth  of  Adalbert  Channel,  through 
which  we  came  to  the  Messier  again.  Again  we  passed 
the  Narrows  and  took  the  shortest  road  through  Chasm 
Keach,  where  the  echo  plays  at  ball  between  precipitous 
walls  with  the  sound-waves  from  our  whistle.  One 
must  not  forget  to  look  astern  before  the  steamer 
changes  its  course,  for  high  up  the  ice-clad  summits 
on  Wellington  Island  may  be  seen  for  a  moment. 

Still  we  had  an  important  item  of  our  programme  left — • 
the  survey  of  Peel  Inlet ;  and  as  I  strongly  insisted  on 
it  the  captain  had  to  }deld,  and  promised  to  take  some 
tons  of  coal  on  board  in  Munoz  Gamero,  which  he  had 
refused  to  do  before.  But  the  probable  reason  was  that 
he  was  in  dread  of  every  place  not  completely  known, 
and  walked  about  always  suspecting  danger.  Had 
we  not  had  Bordes  with  us,  who  was  the  real  commander 
as  soon  as  it  was  a  question  of  some  difficult  enterprise, 
it  is  more  than  uncertain  whether  w^e  should  have  been 
able  to  do  much  work.  Certainly  I  could  not  force  the 
commander  to  do  anything  he  declared  dangerous  to 
the  safety  of  the  vessel  he  was  in  charge  of,  and  as, 
unlike  most  naval  officers,  he  did  not  take  the  slightest 
interest  in  scientffic  work,  he  took  refuge  behind  his 
responsibility  as  often  as  he  could. 

Through  Andrew  Sound  we  went  towards  Pitt 
Channel.  No  harbour  is  known  here,  and  on  the  chart 
one  anchorage  is  marked,  in  eleven  fathoms  of  water 


88  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

at  the  most  easterly  of  the  Kentish  Islands.    In  vain  we 
looked  for  that  anchorage ;  it  was  deep  all  round ;  and 
in  spite  of  the  approaching  darkness  we  had  to  continue 
our  course.    We  sounded  close  to  the  shore — sixty, 
forty,  thirty  fathoms  ;  at  last  we  anchored  in  nineteen 
fathoms,  but  then  the  distance  to  the  rocks  was  only 
a  hundred  feet.    We  were  completely  without  shelter, 
the  anchorage  was  bad,  and  a  squall  would  result  in 
our  dragging  our  anchors.     Before  daybreak  we  weighed 
and  steamed  through  Pitt  Chaimel  into  Peel  Inlet.    The 
Huemul,  which  was  here  once,  had  indicated  a  sand- 
bank on  the  place  where  the  inlet  branches.    We  passed 
with  plenty  of  water.    As  we  slowly  glided  into  Peel 
Inlet  and  the  last  hiding-point  lay  behind  us,  we  became 
silent,  struck  dumb  by  the  scenery.    Perhaps  we  never 
saw  any  more  grand  ;  it  was  quite  wonderful.    Furthest 
ofi,  but  nevertheless  not  very  far,  rise  the  high  crests 
of  the  Andes,  with  fantastic    needles   and  sharp-cut 
peaks,  round  which  the  continuous  sheet  of  inland  ice 
has  folded  its  dazzling  mantle.    Four  broad  streams 
of    ice   emerge   from   it,   embracing   the   violet-brown 
nunataks  and  joining  in  a  gigantic  glacier  with  a  front 
nearly  two  miles  broad,   one   single   expanse   of  blue 
crevices  and  white  crests.    This  all  in  a  frame  of  ever- 
green forest  and  reflected  in  transparent,  glossy  water 
where  the  image  now  and  then  is  blotted  out  by  the  ice- 
floes driven  to  and  fro  by  the  cmTents.    Inland  ice, 
Alps  with  eternal  snow,  all  the  details  of  a  glacier,  slopes 
and  shores  clad  with  a  primeval  forest,  the  crystalline 
fiord- water,  the  drifting  ice,  and  all  this  embraced  in 
one  single  glance  !    That  is  wonderful,  I  think. 


THE  PATAGONIAN  CHANNELS  89 

We  could  the  more  enjoy  the  sight  as  we  had  dis- 
covered an  unknown  harbour  not  far  off,  suitable  in 
every  way.  Quensel  and  I  pulled  through  the  ice, 
densely  packed  in  certain  places,  to  the  glacier,  and  the 
officers  started  to  make  a  map  of  the  harbour,  which 
we  named  Puerto  Tempanos,  i.e.,  the  Port  of  Icefloes, 
as  owing  to  the  tide  the  cove  is  filled  with  small  pieces 
of  ice  twice  a  day. 

We  found  ourselves  in  a  world  of  ice,  moraines,  and 
muddy  rivers,  where  we  got  on  capitally,  and  did  not 
return  before  dark,  very  pleased  with  the  results,  which 
included,  amongst  others,  important  observations  of  the 
geology  in  the  High  Cordillera.  The  next  day  broke 
calm  and  fine,  but  with  a  fog  so  thick  that  we  could 
not  see  even  the  shore  of  our  little  cove.  In  the  after- 
noon work  could  be  continued  round  the  harbour,  which 
is  fringed  by  a  swampy  forest  of  deciduous  beech 
{Nothojagus  antarctica).  Fortunately  we  got  another 
clear  day.  The  last  thing  we  did  was  to  erect  a  tablet 
at  the  entrance  of  the  harbour,  with  this  inscription  : 
"  Meteoro.  Comision  sueco-chilena.  16.  vi.  1908."  I 
suppose  it  will  be  long  before  anybody  finds  it.  As 
we  came  out,  the  old  Channel  weather  met  us  again 
with  rain  and  a  gale  of  wind — but  what  did  it  matter  ? 
We  had  been  successful  with  Peel  Inlet  and  our  spirits 
were  high  ! 

Silence  now  reigned  in  Puerto  Bueno.  The  huts 
stood  empty  like  grinning  skeletons,  their  inhabitants 
gone  on  their  everlasting  wanderings.  Further  south 
we  came  across  some  more  families,  and  the  last  were 
seen  at  Munoz  Gamero,  where  we  made  a  short  stay  to 


90  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

take  fresh  supplies  of  coal  on  board.  In  Smyth  Channel 
we  met  two  steamers,  one  of  them  evoking  great  excite- 
ment— the  Norwegian  ship  Aim,  chartered  by  a  Punta 
Arenas  firm  to  run  between  this  place  and  Valparaiso. 
Halle  was  on  board  on  his  way  to  Chiloe,  and  we  waved 
a  farewell  to  each  other. 

Fresh  wind  and  a  heavy  sea,  Cape  pigeons  and  stormy 
petrels  met  us  when  we  came  out  into  the  Straits. 
Behind  us  lay  the  labyrinth,  the  wonderland  where  we 
should  never  return. 

We  had  some  places  left  to  visit  before  we  could 
consider  the  excursion  finished.  The  lighthouse  on 
Felix  Island  we  visited  on  our  way  out,  but  stopped 
once  more  to  bring  the  mail  to  Punta  Arenas.  From 
there  we  went  to  Woodsworth  Bay  to  find  a  harbour. 
This  place  has  been  famous  for  its  waterfall  ever  since 
the  time  of  the  Beagle.  There  is  no  lack  of  waterfalls 
in  the  Channels,  as  the  rivers  have  no  other  resource 
but  to  flow  vertically,  but  this  was  beyond  all  we  had 
seen.  Dancing  from  one  narrow  shelf  to  the  next, 
from  a  height  of  nearly  a  thousand  feet,  the  water 
hurls  itself  into  the  sea,  and  the  whole  length  of  the  jet 
is  visible  at  one  time. 

In  Port  Gallant  we  said  good-bye  to  Emilia.  I 
daresay  she  left  us  under  the  impression  that  not  all 
"  cristianos "  are  "  malos."  On  a  midwinter  night 
the  Meteoro  anchored  in  the  roads  of  Punta  Arenas. 
We  had  no  time  to  spare  there  ;  on  the  29th  we 
went  on  board  a  Kosmos  steamer  that  took  us  to 
Corral,  and  there  we  immediately  found  another  vessel 
bound  for  Ancud,  the  capital  of  Chiloe. 


CHAPTER  VI 

A  DYING  RACE 

A  KEEN  wind  whistles  through  the  Channels,  tears  the 
stunted  trees,  and  now  and  then  flings  a  grey  shower 
as  a  contribution  to  the  yellowish  bogs.  On  the  tops 
of  the  mountains  the  winter  snow  shines  against  a 
leaden  sky.  Then  EmiUa  presses  her  flat  nose  still 
flatter  against  the  panes  in  the  laboratory  and  says 
something  which  signifies  "canoe."  By  means  of  the 
glasses  we  perceive  a  black  spot  far  ahead — our  first 
encounter  with  the  Indians  is  at  hand.  Darwin  once 
said  that  a  naked  savage  in  his  own  land  is  a  sight 
never  to  be  forgotten.  It  was  not  the  first  we  had 
seen,  but  the  impression  was  never  so  strong. 

The  canoe  we  now  met  was  typical  from  every  poin£~ 
of  view.  Half- naked,  wild- looking  figures  are  pulHng 
out  of  time ;  in  the  stern  an  old  woman  steers.  Every- 
where amongst  the  queer  luggage — sticks  and  poles  of 
various  shapes,  old  sealskins,  piles  of  shells,  and  pieces 
of  blubber — barking  dogs  peep  forth,  and  in  the  smoke 
from  the  fire,  always  nursed  in  the  middle  of  the  boat, 
some  rough- headed  children  appear.  Now  they  have 
caught  sight  of  EmiHa,  with  their  dark  eyes  wide 
open  they  quickly  exchange  ideas  about  this  elegant 
lady  who  steps  about  on  deck  with  such  an  assurance 
of  demeanour.     She  was  sent  to  negotiate.     We  were 

91 


92  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

under  the  impression  that  a  whole  sermon  would  be 
necessary  to  explain  that  we  were  not  bad  and  did  not 
want  to  rob  them  of  their  children;  at  least  a  long 
while  elapsed  before  they  could  make  up  their  minds 
to  come  on  board.  Not  until  now  did  we  get  an  idea 
of  the  contents  of  a  canoe  !  Out  came  a  dozen  persons — 
men,  women,  and  children,  the  youngest  carried  on  the 
back — accompanied  by  half  a  score  of  dogs.  They  look 
round  shyly,  but  at  the  same  time  with  much  curiosity ; 
some  of  them  come  on  board  after  a  certain  hesitation. 
They  refuse  to  leave  their  canoe  alone,  but  one  of  them 
stops  to  keep  an  eye  on  us ;  certainly  we  are  likely  to 
steal  the  valuable  contents.  Only  think  of  the  dehcious 
half- rotten  whale- blubber ! 

Let  us  make  nearer  acquaintance  with  this  pecuHar 
race.  Round  the  funnel,  where  it  is  warm,  our  guests 
have  made  themselves  comfortable,  squatting  on  their 
hams.  Truly  it  is  a  funny  assembly,  and  one  is  almost 
ready  to  ask  if  they  really  belong  to  the  same  species  as 
we  do.  The  face  is  round,  the  distance  between  the 
cheek-bones  being  remarkably  great.  The  eyes  have  a 
dark  and  earnest  expression,  the  nose  is  flat  and  broad, 
the  mouth  often  monstrously  large,  with  thick  lips. 
The  teeth  of  the  younger  members  are  white  and 
beautiful;  in  the  case  of  the  older  members  one  often 
finds  the  front  teeth  missing — they  have  gone  in  the 
process  of  one  or  other  of  the  employments  to  which 
they  have  been  put.  The  skin  is  of  a  dirty  yellowish- 
brown  colour,  sometimes  with  a  coppery  tinge;  the 
hair  is  very  thick,  coarse,  and  jet-black.  It^is  worn 
hanging  loose  over  the  shoulders,  a  square- cut  fringe 


A  DYING  RACE  93 

hiding  the  forehead.  Both  sexes  show  a  remarkable 
disproportion  between  the  upper  body  and  the  legs. 
The  trunk  is  well  developed,  the  neck  short  and  thick, 
the  shoulders  straight,  and  the  arms  long  and  muscular. 
Often  one  finds  real  features  of  beauty,  though  the 
body  is  often  disfigured  by  an  all  too  prominent 
abdomen.  Their  worst  point  is  thin,  bent  legs;  want 
of  exercise  retards  their  development — the  Indian 
lives  in  his  canoe  and  by  his  fire ;  he  is  always  sitting, 
and  when  he  straightens  his  legs  the  skin  folds  over  the 
kneecap.  The  men,  who  are  generally  without  any 
trace  of  a  beard,  are  mostly  of  finer  stature  than 
the  women ;  they  are  considerably  taller,  their  mediimi 
height  reaching  5  feet  1  inch,  against  4  feet  8  inches  in  the 
case  of  the  women.  The  babies  are  rather  lovely,  with 
skin  and  hair  of  a  fighter  colour  and  with  eyes  of  that 
deep  blue  which  is  often  observed  in  kittens. 

A  visit  to  the  camp  gives  us  the  best  idea  of  Indian 
life.  The  beach  is  covered  with  shells.  The  canoes 
have  been  hauled  up  on  thin  logs.  A  few  steps  from 
the  water,  and  we  reach  the  huts,  that  harmonise  so 
with  the  surrounding  forest  that  one  does  not  see  them 
until  one  gets  close.  The  forest  gives  shelter  from  at 
least  one  direction ;  on  the  rocks  mussels  grow  large  and 
fat,  and  outside  in  the  cove  one  can  gather  sea-urchins. 

The  inhabitants  have  gathered  in  front  of  their 
wigwams  to  greet  us.  They  were  just  "  at  table,"  an 
occupation  much  in  favour  during  the  daytime,  or  even  at 
night.  They  have  hastened  to  put  on  old  garments, 
such  as  shawls,  pieces  of  blankets,  torn  jerseys,  &c., 
or  even  the  original  mantle  of  skins.     This  was  once 


94  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

the  only  garment  worn — a  square  mantle  of  fur- seal  or 
sea- otter,  sometimes  completed  by  a  fig-leaf  of  the 
same  material,  kept  in  place  by  strings  made  from 
sinews.  The  head  was  always  uncovered.  With  the 
visits  of  white  men  modern  clothes  have  become  more 
or  less  common ;  but  there  is  hardly  an  Indian  possess- 
ing a  complete  suit — one  has  a  coat,  another  a  pair 
of  trousers,  most  of  them  have  the  legs  quite  naked. 
Some  wear  ornaments,  necklaces  of  shells  or  on  the  breast 
a  flat,  polished  piece  of  bone,  fixed  on  a  neatly  plaited 
string.  Without  protests  they  let  us  enter  the  hut — some 
flexible  sticks  in  a  circle,  bent  together  and  fixed  with  a  ^  '" 
tough,  grass- like  plant  {Marsippospermum  grandiflorum). 
Hardly  is  the  Indian  able  to  stand  upright  under  his 
roof,  where  the  smoke  from  the  fire,  which  is  fed  with 
fresh  green  branches  of  evergreen  beech,  may  seek  its 
way  out  at  leisure.  The  wigwam  is  covered  with  grass,  "^ 
fern- leaves,  twigs  of  trees,  or  with  sea- Hon  skins  and  i 
old  pieces  of  clothes,  all  according  to  circumstances. 
The  large  skins  are  naturally  much  appreciated ;  they 
are  never  left  behind  on  a  camping- place,  as  are  all  the 
other  materials  used.  The  hut  has  one  great  advantage  : 
it  is  easily  constructed,  and  that  is  the  main  thing  for 
a  nomadic  tribe.  Once  or  twice  we  saw  the  skeleton ' 
of  a  hut  brought  along,  which  of  course  saved  trouble. 
We  gladly  "  took  a  seat "  with  them  and  accepted 
their  food.  They  have  nice  things  to  offer — large 
^  shellfish  of  various  kinds,  raw  or  roasted  on  the  cinders, 
just  as  you  like.  Conversation  is  kept  up  with  the 
aid  of  Emilia  as  interpreter:  she  is  in  her  element, 
and  appears  to  have  forgotten  all  her  new  civilisation, 


(J 


A  DYING  RACE  95 

ready  to  jump  in  a  canoe  again  with  naked  legs  amongst 
dogs,  dirt,  and  rubbish.  The  shells  crackle,  lips  whisper. 
The  natives  have  a  phenomenal  capacity  for  speaking 
without  producing  a  sound.  They  look  very  earnest, 
their  Hps  move  quickly — nothing  is  heard.  Suddenly 
the  whole  party  starts  to  laugh  heartily;  it  is  evident 
that  somebody  has  made  a  sally,  and  there  is  no  doubt 
that  we  are  the  butt  of  their  joke. 

Mussels  form  the  main  part  of  their  food.  The  big 
common  Mytilus  are  simply  plucked  like  fruit  at  low 
tide;  the  flat  Patella  is  loosened  with  a  short  stick 
flattened  Hke  a  chisel  at  one  end.  Sea-urchins  are 
caught  with  a  long  stick,  cleft  in  four  parts  at  the  end. 
But  besides  this  they  eat  fish,  meat,  and  blubber,  or 
almost  anything  they  can  get  hold  of.  Their  weapons 
are  very  simple ;  the  most  important  are  the  harpoons 
of  bone,  with  one  hook  or  with  a  long  row  of  hooks 
like  a  saw  fixed  in  a  handle.  There  seems  to  be  plenty 
of  otter  in  the  Channels ;  the  skin  is  fine  and  valuable, 
and  is  the  only  object  of  barter  available.  Seal  is  not 
to  be  got  every  day,  but  one  can  li'^T'e  well  on  a  big 
sea- Hon  for  several  days.  And  what  deHght  when  they 
come  across  a  stranded  whale !  Feasts  are  held  as  long 
as  anything  eatable  is  left;  from  all  directions  the 
savages  hasten  up,  eat  till  they  are  fit  to  burst,  and  pull 
away  with  loaded  canoes.  Several  of  the  Indians  we  / 
met  had  big  quantities  of  whale- blubber.  This  does 
not  contradict  the  fact  that  the  Indian  only  fives  for 
the  day  and  never  thinks  of  saving  anything;  he 
leads  a  wild  fife,  with  meat  and  blubber  one  day  and  i/ 
nothing  the  next. 


96  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

Bows  and  arrows  seem  to  have  fallen  out  of  use, 
which  is  the  more  remarkable  as  nothing  has  replaced 
them.  They  are  of  the  same  shape  as  those  used  by 
the  Onas,  but  smaller.  The  arrows  are  made  of  yellow 
berberis-wood,  and  have  a  neatly  fashioned  point  of 
flint  or  glass ;  the  quiver  is  of  seal-  or  otter- skin.  Slings 
are  sometimes  used  to  kill  birds  with,  and  the  women 
are  said  to  be  clever  in  using  them.  Another  weapon 
also  is  found,  but  we  made  its  acquaintance  only  once. 
It  was  in  Port  Grappler.  The  natives  had  been  on 
board,  and  had  not  shown  themselves  amiably  disposed 
towards  us.  The  next  day  we  went  on  shore  to  see 
their  camp.  As  we  were  on  our  way  we  saw  the  women 
and  children  hurry  away  from  the  huts  along  a  narrow 
path  that  disappeared  in  the  thick  forest — such  a  retreat 
seems  to  have  been  constructed  at  every  camping- 
place — and  the  men  gathered  in  front  of  the  houses 
threatening  us  with  stones,  sticks,  and  a  kind  of  club, 
which  at  once  awoke  ouY  curiosity.  They  would  not 
allow  us  to  land  before  we  had  promised  them  to  leave 
a  shot-gun  we  brought  behind  in  the  yawl;  EmiHa  had 
hard  work  to  persuade  them.  At  the  same  moment 
the  clubs  disappeared.  In  vain  we  asked  them,  in 
vain  we  looked  all  round ;  they  only  shook  their  heads, 
probably  suspecting  that  we  should  deprive  them  of 
their  arms  and  then  assault  them.  It  was  only  after 
a  long  parley  and  rich  presents  of  biscuits  and  tobacco 
that  one  of  them  disappeared  behind  the  hut  and  returned 
with  a  club,  which  he  gave  us.  In  comparison  with  its 
length  (two  feet)  it  is  very  heavy,  and  is  made  from 
the  root  of  the  tepu  {Tepualia  stipularis). 


A  DYING  RACE  97 

The  Channel  Indians  live  in  families  and  have  no 
idea  of  a  community.  Now  and  then  some  families 
keep  together,  probably  those  related  to  each  other, 
as,  for  instance,  two  brothers  with  their  wives  and 
children.  The  largest  party  we  saw,  in  Port  Grappler,' 
nimabered  thirty  members,  who  listened  to  an  old  grey- 
haired  rascal,  whose  objection  to  our  anthropometrical 
instruments  made  him  prohibit  his  subjects  from  visiting 
our  laboratory.  But,  as  we  later  found  out,  the  different 
families  here  afterwards  spread  in  various  directions. 
As  a  rule,  the  canoe  Indian  has  only  one  wife,  but  it 
may  happen  that  a  man  with  an  old  (how  soon !)  and 
ugly  wife  secures  a  younger  one.  Polygamy  is  connected 
with  the  position  of  the  woman.  She  is  subject  to  her 
husband's  will,  she  does  the  hard  work.  Hour  after 
horn-,  with  her  baby  on  her  back,  she  sits  pulling  the 
boat  in  a  tiring  position;  half  a  day  she  wades  in  the  / 
ice-cold  water  to  fill  the  baskets  with  mussels.  The 
household  furniture  is  very  plain  :  knives  made  from 
shells  or  stones,  sinews,  bone- prickers,  all  kept  in  round 
wooden  boxes,  and  baskets  plaited  with  a  certain  skill. 
How  hard  must  it  be  in  the  circumstances  to  give  birth 
to  the  children,  rear  them,  and  teach  them  to  struggle 
for  Hfe  with  resources  smaller,  perhaps,  than  any  other 
people  on  the  earth  possess!  We  seldom  saw  more 
than  two  or  three  children  in  a  family;  it  is  evident; 
that  mortality  must  be  great  among  these  naked 
little  beings,  who  are  dragged  about  with  their  parents 
in  any  kind  of  weather.  Here,  if  ever  one  may  study  the 
survival  of  the  fittest,  he  who  stands  the  test  when 
young  should  be  able  to  stand  anything.      I  do  not 


98  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

-^  think  they  ever  reach  any  great  age.  The  only  one 
that  looked  more  than  fifty  was  the  above-mentioned 
cacique  in  Port  Grappler.  They  have  no  idea  what- 
ever of  their  age.  They  do  not  count  more  than  to  three  ;  j^ 
any  number  above  is  much  or  many.  We  need  not  be/ 
astonished  at  their  not  getting  old:  in  fact,  they  lead 
a  life  as  hard  as  we  can  conceive.  An  existence  in 
constant  cold,  in  eternal  rain,  which  makes  it  impossible 
to  dry  anything  for  weeks  together,  in  icy  water,  in 
storms  and  frequent  dangers,  and,  finally,  the  inter- 
course with  white  men,  is  not  favourable  to  longevity. 
That  the  dismal  surroundings  and  the  frightful 
struggle  for  existence  should  put  their  stamp  on  the 
mental  life  is  easily  understood.  There  rests  a  certain 
mournful  melancholy  over  their  souls ;  they  are  used  to 
fearing  the  dangerous  elements,  and  white  men,  more 
dangerous  still.  But,  as  true  children  of  instinct,  they 
forget  all  sorrows  round  the  crackhng  fire ;  when  they 
have  plenty  to  eat  their  eyes  sparkle,  they  have  a 
merry  time.  Play  seems  to  be  foreign  to  them;  not 
even  the  children  play,  but  look  earnest  as  old 
people,  as  if  they  could  aheady  behold  all  the  terrors 
of  the  future  in  the  dreary  sky  that  lifts  its  vault 
above  their  land.  I  have  not  seen  any  ceremonies ; 
probably  they  perform  some,  but  refuse  to  before 
V  strangers.  The  Yahgan  tribe  was  not  without  them. 
They  have  no  religious  ideas,  they  do  not  worship 
anything,  but  it  is  clear  that  they  must  fear  powers  of 
nature,  which  they  cannot  explain.  They  also  seem 
to  have  some  sort  of  idea  that  dead  persons  may  hurt 
them;    twice  we  saw  natives  carrying  a  small  leather 


A  DYING  RACE  99 

pouch  with  hair  from  a  dead  person,  and  Emilia  declared 
them  to  be  amulets.  Anyhow  their  owners  parted 
with  them  for  a  match-box. 

Life  makes  the  Channel  Indian  a  nomad.  He^/ 
moves  along  the  shores  all  his  life,  year  after  year,  f 
from  birth  to  death.  However  plain  his  canoe  may 
look,  it  is  a  masterpiece,  if  we  take  into  consideration 
that  it  is  made  with  empty  hands.  Formerly  the 
principal  tool  was  the  fire,  A  tree  was  burnt  at  the 
foot  till  it  crashed  down,  the  log  was  literally  burnt 
down  to  a  plank,  and  the  charred  wood  gradually 
scraped  off  with  big  sharp- edged  shells  or  stone  knives. 
Now  axes  are  used,  but  not  every  family  has  one.  Then 
the  plank  is  furnished  with  holes  along  the  edges,  as  the 
canoe  must  be  bound  together.  The  construction  is 
simple :  one  bottom  board  bent  upwards  in  the  bow 
and  stern  to  form  the  broad  stem  and  the  stern-post, 
which  protrude  above  the  sides,  made  of  two  boards 
fixed  to  each  other  and  to  the  bottom.  They  are  drawn 
together  with  the  tough  bast  of  the  cypress  or  the  stem  of 
a  runner- plant  {Campsiclium  chilense)  and  tightened  with 
moss,  fat,  &c. ;  nevertheless  the  canoe  makes  a  lot  of 
water,  and  the  scoop  of  sealskin  is  frequently  needed. 
Some  small  sticks  across  the  gunwales  make  the  thwarts, 
and  it  is  ready — the  treasure,  the  family  fortune.  Now 
and  then  we  saw  oars  of  the  primitive  type,  made  in 
two  pieces  with  the  blade  fixed  with  bast  on  to  the  handle, 
but  those  who  are  well  ofi  and  possess  a  hatchet  make 
them  as  we  do.  The  oar  to  steer  with  is  shorter  than 
the  rest,  and  is  handled  with  great  ability  by  the  women. 
Often  they  travel  into  the  open  water ;  and  the  sea  inside 


100  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

the  Channels  may  become  heavy  indeed  for  such  a 
primitive  craft,  especially  when,  dm:ing  a  move  from 
one  camp  to  another,  it  is  heavily  loaded.  Once 
we  took  two  canoes  on  board,  and  the  contents  were 
emptied  on  the  deck.  In  spite  of  the  dreadful  stench, 
Quensel  and  I  made  a  list  of  the  things  contained  in 
one  of  them:  Three  long  oars,  one  short,  handles  for 
the  harpoons,  hatchet  (modern),  basket  of  bark  for 
fresh  water,  two  boxes  with  harpoon  points,  necklaces, 
sinews,  prickers,  &c.,  three  small  bags  of  sealskin  with 
the  same  contents  as  the  boxes,  a  bag  of  whale- hide 
with  blubber,  baskets,  bailer  of  sealskin,  a  piece  of 
slate  to  sharpen  knives,  bundles  of  bast,  sea- Hon  skins, 
heaps  of  shells,  pieces  of  blubber,  various  whalebones 
and  baleens,  bundles  of  Marsippospermum  and  a  painter, 
plaited  of  that  same  plant. 

Nowadays  the  Channel  Indians  are  distributed  from 
the  Magellan  Straits  to  the  Gulf  of  Penas,  over  a  distance 
of  six  degrees.  Generally  they  keep  inside,  but  some- 
times travel  out  in  the  opening,  and  are  said  to  use  larger 
canoes  for  such  journeys.  We  did  not  see  any  of  this 
larger  kind,  but  in  Port  Gallant  found  a  third  construc- 
tion made  from  a  single  log.  That  sort  is  a  product 
of  late  years.  To  the  east  the  natives  once  travelled 
as  far  as  Useless  Bay  and  Magdalena  Channel ;  opposite 
our  camping- place  in  Admiralty  Inlet  we  found  the 
old  huts.  They  are  often  seen  in  Last  Hope  Inlet,  and 
sometimes  in  Skyring  Water.  As  I  have  told  above, 
we  had  heard  of  a  road  made  by  the  natives  from 
Obstruction  Sound  to  Skyring,  and  we  spent  a  day 
during  our  Skyring  expedition  in  order  to  visit  the 


A  DYING  RACE  101 

place.  Our  yawl  passed  the  bar  at  the  entrance  of 
Excelsior  Sound,  and  we  soon  reached  its  inner  extre- 
mity, and  seemed  surrounded  every^vhere  by  a  wall  of 
rocks  and  green  foliage.  At  first  we  looked  in  vain. 
There  is  no  beach  of  sand  or  gravel ;  the  water  reaches 
the  very  peat  and  the  roots  of  the  trees,  and  it  was  a 
mere  chance  that  we  found  the  landing-place,  so  well  is 
it  hidden.  The  road  follows  a  narrow  gorge,  where  a 
vault  of  green  leaves  closes  above  one's  head.  It  is 
four  hundred  yards  long,  and  laid  with  short  sticks 
across,  with  a  distance  of  from  three  to  six  feet  between 
them.  At  the  other  end  we  found  a  lagoon  with  fresh 
water,  and  from  a  hill  we  saw  another  lagoon  separating 
us  from  Obstruction  Sound.  The  sticks  greatly  facilitate 
the  transport  of  the  heavy  canoes.  What  the  Indians 
find  to  do  in  Skyring  is  not  easy  to  tell.  There  are  no 
shells  or  seals,  and  to  judge  from  their  old  huts  they 
carry  provisions  with  them.  Formerly  they  probably 
used  to  go  there  hunting  guanacos,  or  more  especially 
deer,  and  now  perhaps  to  beg  at  the  settlements.  Several 
other  passes,  "portages"  as  they  are  sometimes  called, 
are  known  in  the  Channels. 

The  Yahgan  tribe,  which  inhabits  Tierra  del  Fuego 
down  to  Cape  Horn,  and  the  remnants  of  which  are 
collected  on  a  small  mission  station,  leads  a  life  in  every 
way  corresponding  to  that  of  the  Channel  tribe.  Their 
canoe,  however,  is  of  a  very  different  type.  This  is 
not  remarkable;  much  more  so  is  it  that  their  lan- 
guages are  entirely  different,  not  one  word  being  the 
same,  or  even  anything  similar.  It  was  possible  for 
me  to  discover  this,  but  how  explain  the  difference  ? 


102  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

They  cannot  have  had  any  great  intercourse  with  each 
other,  though  they  must  have  met,  as  no  natural 
boundaries  separate  them.  In  the  Patagonian  Channels 
at  least  two  different  dialects  are  spoken ;  Emilia  could 
not  quite  understand  the  Grappler  people,  but  those 
in  Smyth  Channel  spoke  exactly  as  she  did.  The 
language  can  hardly  be  called  beautiful.  In  the  ears 
of  a  white  man  it  sounds  like  a  mixture  of  inarticulate, 
hoarse,  and  guttural  sounds.  The  numerous  consonants 
piled  upon  each  other  are  characteristic,  the  peculiar 
sh  and  ch  sounds,  two  kinds  of  r,  and  the  impure 
vowels,  which  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  pronounce. 
Their  vocabulary  is  deficient  in  words  for  abstract 
things,  but  very  rich  in  names  of  natural  products, 
such  as  plants,  animals,  and  even  such  as  are  of  no 
use.  Since  their  acquaintance  with  white  people  they 
have  created  many  new  words,  such  as  for  steamer,  knife,  ' 
matches,  &c.  We  were  surprised  to  know  that  they  did 
not  use  the  words  for  man  and  woman  to  indicate  white 
people,  but  had  made  quite  new  names  for  them.  j 

Thus  they  have  lived  for  thousands  of  years,  have 
been  born,  eaten  mussels,  endured  hardships,  and  died. 
Soon  no  descendants  will  walk  in  their  footsteps;  i 
they  will  all  die  out.  With  every  year  their  small  j 
tribe,  melts.  Perhaps  a  few  hundreds  are  now  left, 
but  soon  only  the  fragments  of  canoes  and  skeletons 
of  wigwams  will  bear  witness  to  them.  They  will 
die,  but  not  because  they  have  succumbed  to  a  stronger 
race,  which  is  able  to  gain  wealth,  unknown  to  them,  from 
their  land.  When  they  have  disappeared  their  vast  land 
will  remain  deserted;  it  offers  means  of  hfe  for  nobody 


A  DYING  KACE  103 

else.  There  we,  the  white  men,  are  the  weaker  race.  But 
why,  then,  are  they  condemned  to  extermination  ? 

"Well,  why  did  the  Yahgans  disappear  ?  Nobody 
hungered  for  their  country — it  was  for  the  care  of  their 
souls.  The  mission  gathered  them,  took  them  away 
from  their  huts  and  canoes,  set  them  to  read  the  , 
Catechism  and  knit  stockings.  They  languished  and  / 
died.  And  in  this  case  the  difficult  problem,  how  the 
white  intruder  should  treat  the  savages,  was  simple 
enough:  leave  them  alone;  receive  those  who  wish 
it,  absorb  them  if  possible,  but  do  not  transplant 
them  roughly  to  a  new  soil.  I  believe  there  is  a  scheme 
to  collect  the  rest  of  the  Channel  Indians  into  the  mission 
stations.  Well,  in  this  case  it  will  only  hasten  the 
inevitable  end.  It  is  dreadful  to  see  how  the  white 
men  who  passed  through  the  Channels  and  regarded  the 
natives  as  strange  animals,  amusing  to  look  at  for  a 
while,  have  been  able  to  spread  death  and  destruction 
among  these  innocent  children  of  nature.  Syphilis  and 
phthisis  especially  ravage,  and  if  we  remember  the  influ- 
ence of  the  first- mentioned  disease  on  the  offspring  it  is 
easy  to  tell  the  future  result.  The  natives  certainly  have 
not  the  shghtest  idea  of  what  a  contagious  disease  is. 

Perhaps  all  assistance  would  come  too  late  now. 
But  if  I  had  the  power  I  would  erect  a  sort  of  central 
station  where  the  poor  fellows  could  come  for  a  doctor 
and  for  other  help,  but  without  giving  them  a  chance 
of  a  parasitic  Hfe  of  idleness.     There  is  a  small  possi-  ■. 
bility  that  this  pecuhar  tribe,  one  of  the  very  lowest  \ 
on  earth,   may   be    saved    from  total    extermination.   ) 
But  who  is  the  man  to  do  it  ? 


CHAPTER  VII 

CHILOE  AND  THE  GULF  OF  CORCOVADO 

In  the  year  1540  a  Spanish  navigator  for  the  first 
time  sighted  the  coast  of  Chiloe,  but  did  not  get  very 
near  the  island.  But  though  the  discovery  was  not 
forgotten,  it  was  thirteen  years  before  the  famous 
conqueror  of  Chile,  Pedro  de  Valdivia,  got  an  oppor- 
tunity of  sending  another  expedition.  He  sent  UUoa, 
who  surveyed  the  coast  with  a  couple  of  small  craft, 
and  discovered  islands,  harbours,  and  channels.  The 
formal  conquest  dates  from  1558,  and,  among  many 
other  events,  is  celebrated  in  Ercilla's  famous  epic, 
"  La  Araucana."  The  peaceful  inhabitants  met  an  evil 
fate.  Without  suspecting  anything,  they  received  the 
intruders  kindly.  But  the  Spaniards  acted  as  they 
always  did :  the  land  was  divided  among  the  more  pro- 
minent leaders,  and  the  inhabitants  made  slaves.  The 
island,  which  was  before  quite  flourishing,  and  had  a 
very  ancient  culture,  and  the  population  of  which  differed 
to  its  advantage  from  the  martial  Araucanians  of  the 
mainland  in  being  very  peaceful,  soon  ran  to  waste 
under  the  Spanish  sway.  The  native  race  got 
commingled  with  the  Spanish,  and  consequently  grew 
poorer  and  more  lazy ;  the  intruders  set  bad  examples 
and  led  vicious  lives.  Only  one  thing  made  rapid 
progress — the  Catholic  Church.     According  to  a  Chilean 

104 


CHILOE  AND  THE  GULF  OF  CORCOVADO    105 

author,  there  were  abeady  thirty- six  churches  on  Chiloe 
in  1612.  But  the  population  diminished,  the  inhabi- 
tants fled  out  of  the  country.  Chiloe  became  truly 
Spanish.  During  the  wars  of  independence  it  remained 
faithful  for  a  long  time;  it  was  the  bulwark  of  the 
Spaniards,  and  only  in  January  1826,  when  the  republic 
was  already  several  years  old,  did  the  last  royal  troops 
surrender.  Long  afterwards  the  inhabitants,  more  than 
half  of  them  pure  Spaniards  or  mestizos,  remained 
royaHsts,  and  Darwin  relates  that  they  complained  of 
not  having  a  king,  but  a  president  who  did  not  take 
any  notice  of  them.  They  may  have  been  right  then, 
and  still  Chiloe  has  the  reputation  of  being  a  remote 
corner;  I  heard  more  than  one  Chileno  speak  with 
disdain  of  the  Chilotes.  Remarkably  enough  the 
education  of  the  people,  if  we  dare  judge  from  the 
capacity  to  read  and  write,  is  better  than  in  the  rest  of 
Chile,  where  the  chances  are  the  same.  I  think  this 
speaks  in  favour  of  the  poor  Chilotes.  Trade  and 
industry  are  not  maintained  as  they  deserve  to  be, 
and  the  attempt  to  colonize  with  foreign  peoples, 
Germans,  Scandinavians,  and  others,  has  not  yielded 
any  results  worth  mentioning. 

I  beHeve  the  pure  Tiuilliches  are  easily  counted  now,  but 
their  language  will  always  live  in  the  sonorous  names  of 
many  places.  In  some  places  it  is  still  spoken.  Their  blood 
is  in  the  veins  of  all  Chilotes,  and  the  type  has  much  of 
the  Indian  in  its  appearance  and  is  easily  recognized. 
Nowhere  in  Chile  does  one  find  conditions  so  primitive  or 
habits  so  simple  as  on  Chiloe  and  the  adjacent  islands. 


106  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

A  very  beautiful  landscape  meets  us  as  the  steamer 
stands  in  for  the  glittering  bay  of  Ancud.  It  is  a  day 
of  bright  sunshine.  To  our  right  we  have  the  peninsula 
Lacuy,  with  its  virgin  forests,  to  our  left  the  low  beach 
of  Carelmapu,  and  right  ahead  the  Chacao  Channel 
opens  its  winding  passage.  Straight  south  the  forest 
has  been  cleared  away,  a  patch  of  light  green  shows  up, 
and  we  discern  the  white  houses  of  Ancud. 

As  soon  as  we  had  anchored  boats  swarmed  round 
us  and  dark-skinned  Chilotes  tried  to  drown  each 
other's  voices,  offering  us  their  treasures  of  dehcious 
oysters  and  silvery  fishes.  All  of  them  also  were  ready 
to  make  away  with  our  luggage  and  with  us  too ; 
several  crews  live  by  fleecing  visitors  who  want  to  go 
on  shore.  We  left  in  the  steam-launch  belonging  to 
the  captain  of  the  port,  who  had  sent  it  to  fetch  us,  as 
well  as  our  equipment.  A  considerable  distance  sepa- 
rated the  steamer  from  the  jetty,  the  bay  being  very 
shallow. 

Ancud,  the  capital  of  the  province,  is  a  pecuhar 
little  town.  It  was  founded  in  1768  under  the  name 
of  San  Carlos  de  Ancud,  and  now  numbers  about  4000 
inhabitants.  I  have  seldom  seen  a  place  so  absolutely 
lacking  in  any  architectural  beauty ;  most  of  the  houses 
are  low,  wooden  huts  without  a  trace  of  style.  The 
streets  are  rough  and  dirty,  but  fortunately  not  of 
the  ordinary  South  American  town  plan — the  chess- 
board— and  crooked  streets  and  small  hills  make  a 
picturesque  view.  Kound  the  harbour  hfe  is  rather 
lively  when  the  steamer  is  in;  there  are  the  business 
blocks,  the  small,  ill- kept  market-hall,  the  custom  house, 


CiiiLOTP:  House. 


The  Pi.aza  i.n   Anll  !■,  C  iin 


CHILOE  rVND  THE  GULF  OF  CORCOVADO    107 

the  port- master's  quarters,  &c.  The  place  is  crowded 
with  bare- legged  Chilotes  on  horseback  or  on  foot, 
not  without  the  inevitable  poncho,  sometimes  bright 
and  new,  of  a  striped  pattern,  sometimes  like  a  worn- 
out  rag  on  which  generations  have  rubbed  their  feet. 
Further  up  in  the  town  the  streets  are  often  empty, 
and  on  the  outskirts  swarm  pigs,  fowl,  cats,  and  dogs, 
which  seem  to  flourish  in  the  luxuriant  grass. 

Above  I  said  something  of  the  general  education  of 
the  Chilotes.  Ancud  has  several  schools,  some  of 
them  private  ones,  and  can  boast  of  a  lyceum.  Its 
rector  and  professors  showed  us  great  kindness  and 
hospitaHty.  They  try  to  be  as  up-to-date  in  their 
teaching  as  possible,  but  high  above  all  their  endeavours 
the  cathedral  rises  with  mighty  proportions  commanding 
the  whole  community.  It  is  not  quite  finished  yet ;  the 
tower  is  wanting,  and  will  cost  much  money.  I  dare 
say  it  is  absurd  to  erect  a  church  here  (and  not  the  only 
one !)  big  enough  to  hold  the  faithful  in  several  towns 
of  the  size  of  Ancud.  But  the  Catholic  church,  led  by 
an  energetic  bishop,  is  rich  and  powerful;  there  is 
a  Jesuit  college  and  seminary,  monastery  and  nunnery, 
and  all  the  east  coast  is  so  crowded  with  chapels  that 
sometimes  one  is  able  to  count  half  a  dozen  at  a  time. 
Some  of  them  are  useful  as  beacons.  The  male  inhabi- 
tants in  general  are  not  very  pleased  with  the  over- 
abundant influence  of  the  priests,  but  here  as  everywhere 
the  weaker  sex  encourages  it.  The  only  newspaper, 
La  cruz  del  sur,  is  conducted  by  the  priests ;  it  appears 
once  a  week,  and  is  free  from  all  news.  The 
only    number    I    read  contained  a  biography  of  the 


108  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

Pope  and  a  statistical  account  of  Catholicism's  conquest 
of  the  world;  amongst  others  Sweden  was  rapidly 
returning  to  the  only  saving  faith,  according  to  this 
authority !  The  cathedral  is  situated  at  the  flaza, 
where  are  found  other  more  noteworthy  edifices — 
the  house  of  the  intendente  (governor  of  the  province), 
the  bishop's  house,  the  fire-brigade,  and  the  Jesuit 
college.  With  its  broken  and  to  some  extent  very 
original  sculptures,  its  plantations  full  of  weeds  and 
its  paths  overgrown,  the  "plaza  gives  the  impression  of 
decay. 

Ancud  has  seen  its  best  days.  Those  were  when 
the  devastation  of  the  forests  started,  many  years  ago. 
Beautiful  timber — alerce  and  Gji^Tess{Fitzroya  patagonia 
and  Lihocedrus  tetrago7ia,  two  conifers),  laurel  {Laurelia 
aromatica),  and  luma  ( Myrtus  luma) — was  plentiful  all 
round  in  the  forest,  the  transport  cost  scarcely  anything, 
ships  came  and  went,  the  town  prospered,  there  were 
wealthy  men.  This  state  of  things  did  not  last  long ;  the 
coastal  regions  easy  of  access  became  exhausted,  and  it 
cost  too  much  to  draw  profit  from  the  interioi:,  as  means 
of  communication  were  difficult.  There  is  only  one  road 
worthy  of  the  name,  leading  from  Ancud  to  Castro, 
but  it  does  not  touch  the  central  parts  covered  by 
impenetrable  forests  down  to  the  west  coast,  where 
harbours  are  completely  lacking  and  where  the  surf 
seldom  permits  a  landing.  Culture  keeps  to  the  north 
and  east  coasts,  where  the  outlying  islands  act  as  a 
shelter  and  good  harbours  are  frequent. 

Before  giving  an  account  of  our  travels  in  these  parts 
I  wish  to  say  some  words  by  way  of  a  brief  description 


CHILOE  AND  THE  GULF  OF  CORCOVADO    109 

of  the  Chilote  and  his  life.  We  made  his  acquaintance 
long  before  that  of  his  country,  because  several  of  the 
sailors  on  board  the  Government  steamers  in  Punta 
Arenas  were  Chilotes.  We  had  learnt  to  know  the  small 
plump  men  as  enterprising,  intelligent,  and  light-hearted. 
It  is  not  uncommon  to  hear  Chileans  from  the  main- 
land speak  with  disrespect  of  the  Chilotes,  whom  they 
accuse  of  stupidity  and  indolence,  lethargy,  and  love 
of  dirtiness;  many  hardly  consider  them  as  fellow 
creatures ;  in  any  case,  they  consider  them  inferior 
to  themselves.  And  the  Chilotes  answer  by  not  wanting 
to  be  styled  Chilenos — they  are  Chilotes,  and  nothing 
more.  I  dare  say  it  is  quite  as  good.  You  must  not 
judge  them  till  you  know  the  conditions  under  which 
they  live.  Chiloe  is  covered  by  impenetrable  primeval 
forests  and  soaked  by  deluges  of  rains;  the  annual 
rainfall  amounts  to  from  78  to  100  inches  or  even  more. 
Cultivation  has  not  been  able  to  clear  more  than  a  narrow 
strip  along  the  coast ;  the  forest  almost  refuses  to  burn, 
and  how  cut  it  down  and  get  it  away  when  there  are 
no  roads  ?  To  make  a  road  is  much  too  laborious  an 
enterprise  for  the  private  individual,  and  once  made 
it  demands  continual  expenditure  or  at  once  it  is 
changed  into  a  bottomless  ditch  of  tough  clay.  And 
I  believe  the  Chilote  has  one  big  fault :  he  has  little 
ambition.  If  he  has  his  bit  of  shore,  where  some  wheat 
and  his  principal  food,  potatoes,  grow,  some  small 
horses,  cows,  and  sheep,  then  he  is  contented — more 
than  that,  he  is  a  rich  man.  What  is  barely  enough 
to  maintain  life  upon  he  is  able  to  gain  with  a  minimum 
of  work.    The  sea  gives  him  plenty;  at  low  tide  he 


110  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

gathers  shellfish  and  sea-urchins,  cochayuyo  {Durvillea, 
a  gigantic  brown  kelp),  and  luche  {Ulva,  a  green  alga), 
the  oyster-banks  provide  a  delicious  dish,  and  there  is 
any  amount  of  fish.  It  is  not  at  all  surprising  that  he 
has  little  interest  for  agriculture.  Modern  methods  are 
unknown  to  him ;  his  plough  is  of  pre-Columbian  type. 
He  boils  his  potatoes  or  roasts  them,  makes  his  soup 
of  mutton  or  fowl,  brews  chicha  from  his  small  apples, 
and  lives  happy  in  the  house  of  his  ancestors.  The 
roof  is  thatched  and  without  a  vent-hole  for  smoke, 
there  is  an  earthen  floor,  and  the  windows  often  have 
no  panes.  Besides  the  members  of  the  family,  pigs  are 
found  within,  and  furniture  is  very  scarce.  Sometimes 
there  is  a  separate  cook-house  of  almost  the  shape  of 
a  round  tent.  Should  the  Chilote  become  ambitious 
or  eager  to  save  money,  he  seldom  clears  more  ground 
to  enlarge  his  estate,  but  leaves  one  element,  the  forest, 
and  takes  to  the  next,  the  sea.  He  is  a  born  sailor ; 
from  childhood  he  has  gone  with  his  father  in  an  open 
boat,  made  long  journeys  to  look  for  fur-seals  or  valuable 
timber,  especially  alerce.  He  loves  the  sea,  he  travels 
all  over  the  world,  but  is  usually  driven  back  to  the  old 
place,  for  his  heart  cHngs  to  the  forest,  the  potatoes, 
and  oysters  of  the  big  island  of  Chiloe. 
J  It  may  be  true  that  his  character  shows  more  than 
one  defect,  that  he  is  too  little  ambitious,  and  often 
lives  for  the  day  without  any  higher  aspirations ;  never- 
theless a  stranger  who  comes  to  his  house  is  attracted 
by  his  kindly  hospitality  and  childish  mind,  and,  if  he 
learns  to  know  him  in  his  proper  element,  cannot  help 
admiring  him.     Who  can  match  him  in  living  in  the 


CHILOE  AND  THE  GULF  OF  CORCOVADO    111 

dismal  forest  for  weeks  or  months,  working  hard,  and 
getting  up  as  soaked  with  rain  as  he  goes  to  sleep, 
walking  mile  after  mile  over  the  most  terrible  ground, 
finding  a  foothold  on  slippery  logs  with  a  heavy  load, 
cutting  his  way  through  the  bamboo- thickets,  or 
navigating  the  rapid,  dangerous  rivers  ?  And  all 
without  other  provisions  than  some  charqui  (dried 
meat)  and  harina  tostada  (coarse,  roasted  oatmeal). 

The  first  days  of  our  stay  we  made  short  excursions 
round  Ancud  and  to  the  Lacuy  Peninsula,  in  order  to 
get  acquainted  with  the  natural  features,  which  were  in 
many  respects  new  to  us.  I  shall  not  trouble  the  reader 
with  a  detailed  account  of  them,  merely  giving  a  brief 
description  of  a  ride  to  the  west  coast,  the  only  time 
we  saw  the  open  ocean  here.  One  can  hardly  speak 
of  a  road ;  one  simply  follows  the  shore  from  the  town, 
if  possible  at  low  tide.  At  high  tide  one  has  to  grope 
one's  way  in  the  water  for  some  stretches,  where  glass- 
smooth  rocks  and  hidden  stones  give  horse  and  rider 
enough  to  think  of.  In  one  place  progress  is  impossible ; 
we  strike  ofi  and  follow  a  real  road,  winding  across  a 
steep  hill  down  to  the  water  again.  From  the  top  we 
had  a  splendid  view  over  the  bay,  and  forgot  for  one 
moment  the  miserable  state  of  the  road.  It  looks 
like  a  system  of  parallel  ditches,  where  the  mud  reaches 
to  the  horse's  knees;  the  furrows  are  so  narrow  that 
now  and  then  he  has  to  plant  a  hoof  on  the  slippery 
wall  to  keep  his  balance,  and  if  he  tries  to  walk  on  the 
ridge  between  them  he  shdes  down  every  second  minute, 
bespattering  you  all  over  with  dirt.     We  were  glad  to 


112  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

leave  the  hill  behind,  and  galloped  along  the  beach, 
where  the  rattling  gravel  flew  whirling  about  the  horses' 
hoofs.  A  dull  rush  sang  in  our  ears — the  Pacific 
Ocean  thundered  towards  us,  rolling  in  over  sand- 
banks and  rocks.  Snow-white  ghttered  the  sand- 
beach  ;  one  wave  after  the  other  rolled  in,  was  broken 
into  foam,  and  died  at  our  feet. 

It  was  Sunday  and  fine  weather,  many  people  were 
out  for  a  walk,  and  various  figures  looked  into  the  httle 
inn  where  we  sat  waiting  for  our  dinner.  The  landlord, 
a  young  and  very  good-looking  fellow,  spoke  Spanish 
with  a  French  accent;  his  French  wife  promised  to 
do  her  best — she  could  always  ofier  us  oysters,  bread 
and  butter,  and  a  glass  of  Chilean  wine.  By  mere 
chance  we  heard  that  their  name  was  Dreyfus,  and  soon 
got  to  know  that  the  husband's  father,  who  lives  in 
Ancud,  was  a  cousin  of  the  famous  ex- prisoner  of  Devil's 
Island.  Another  of  our  fresh  acquaintances,  who  sat 
at  dinner  with  us,  told  us  that  his  business  was  to  hunt 
whale  in  the  old-fashioned  manner,  only  using  rowing- 
boats  and  hand- harpoons.  One  does  not  very  often 
find  that  method  in  use  in  this  age  of  whaling- steamers 
and  shell- cannons.  But  if  there  was  traffic  on  the 
roads,  the  bay,  generally  crowded  with  oyster-lishers, 
was  the  more  empty.  The  oysters  are  small,  but  very 
deHcious,  and  for  ten  pesos  you  get  a  good  bagful. 
Every  month  milhons  of  them  are  exported  to  Val- 
paraiso; on  arrival  there  they  are  not  so  good,  but 
certainly  much  more  expensive.  When  I  told  a  Chilote 
how  much  we  pay  for  oysters  in  Sweden  he  shook  his 
head,  laughed,  and  put  on  a  very  doubtful  air. 


CHILOE  AND  THE  GULF  OF  CORCOVADO  113 

We  returned  by  moonlight;  it  was  low  tide,  and 
witliout  any  obstacle  we  could  gallop  along  over  the 
wet,  glistening  beach,  and  were  soon  back  in  our  modest 
quarters. 

It  is  a  laborious  matter  to  penetrate  into  the  virgin 
interior  of  Chiloe.  As  we  were  anxious  to  see  the 
primeval  forest  we  were  glad  to  accept  an  invitation 
to  visit  a  settlement  on  Rio  Pudeto;  the  owner  was 
to  take  us  there  on  his  steam-launch.  The  day  fixed 
for  the  excursion  came  with  fine  weather.  Opposite 
Chiloe,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Gulf  of  Corcovado, 
the  coast  lay  absolutely  clear,  presenting  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  pictures  I  ever  beheld.  High  above 
the  dark  belt  of  forest  the  long  row  of  giant  volcanoes, 
Osorno,  Calbuco,  Huequi,  Yate,  Minchinmahuida,  raise 
their  snow- clad  crowns.  The  landscape  round  the 
mouth  of  Pudeto  is  also  worthy  of  attention.  The 
entrance  is  about  half  a  mile  wide;  the  shores 
are  muddy,  and  large  herds  of  flamingoes  walk  solemnly 
round  poking  with  their  beaks  after  food;  when  we 
approach  they  take  to  flight  all  together,  sail  away 
like  a  pink  cloud,  and  ahght  again  with  flapping  wings, 
which  flash  black  and  crimson. 

The  tides  reach  far  up  the  river  several  miles  inland, 
and  at  the  entrance  there  is  a  current  of  some  knots. 
It  was  with  a  favouring  tide  and  at  the  speed  of  a  racer 
that  we  approached  the  low  wooden  bridge  across  the 
broad  water.  The  space  between  the  pillars  is  small, 
and  without  a  warning  our  noble  craft  was  thrown 
against  one  of  them;  the  gunwale  got  stove  in,  and 
there  we  lay  as  though  nailed  to  the  pier.     There  was 


114  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

no  choice  but  to  wait  with  patience  till  the  current 
should  turn.  However,  it  is  not  so  easy  to  be  patient 
when  one  is  half  starved,  and  we  had  slipped  away 
without  any  breakfast  and  carried  no  provisions. 
Not  until  the  afternoon  did  we  manage  to  get  ofi,  and 
steamed  peacefully  up  the  river,  now  a  narrow  channel 
of  open  water,  winding  between  wide- stretching  banks 
of  reeds.  In  the  twilight  all  details  were  soon  oblite- 
rated, the  sky  glowed  with  the  most  beautiful  colours, 
and  a  white  fog  settled  down  over  the  yellow  swamps. 
It  was  pitch-dark  when  at  last  we  groped  our  way  to 
the  half- built  house,  where  a  party  of  friendly  grinning 
Chilotes  took  us  in.  Finally,  at  nine  o'clock  dinner 
was  ready,  but  it  consisted  almost  exclusively  of 
potatoes.  Never  before  in  my  life  did  I  eat  so  much 
of  this  wholesome  root.  Chiloe  and  potatoes — these 
two  ideas  are  indissolubly  linked  together  in  my  mind. 
It  is  one  of  the  native  countries  of  Solarium  tuberosum, 
and  perhaps  it  is  still  possible  to  find  wild  specimens 
in  the  coast  region.  Large  quantities  are  exported, 
and  I  daresay  more  than  a  hundred  different  varieties 
are  cultivated  on  the  island,  each  with  a  different  name. 

In  a  dark  closet  Halle  and  I  got  a  bed  each,  but  in 
spite  of  being  tired  we  did  not  sleep  much/  lor  our 
bedfellows  were  far  too  numerous  and  too  livelvc. 

The  next  day  we  went  into  the  forest.  I'c  was  of 
the  agreeable  variety  that  one  finds  on  sandy  and 
comparatively  dry  soil.  It  was  the  middle  of  winter, 
but  everything  was  fresh  and  green ;  nothing  reminded 
us  of  death  or  rest ;  even  flowers  were  to  be  seen.  High 
above  us  the  heads  of  the  trees  closed  over,  and  a  dull, 


CHILOE  AND  THE  GULF  OF  CORCOVADO  115 

half- mysterious  light  filtered  through  the  dense  foliage. 
"WTiat  a  difference  between  this  forest  and  the  one 
in  the  Patagonian  Channels !  Variety  instead  of  ^ 
monotony,  trees  of  very  large  dimensions  and  of 
many  kinds  hitherto  unknown  to  me  filling  the  air 
with  strong  aromatic  scent.  Ferns  of  all  sizes  and  shapes 
clothe  the  trunks,  a  large  Rhodosfachys  hicolor  {Brome- 
liacea)  sits  high  up  on  the  branches,  and  thick- stemmed 
creepers  climb  towards  the  sky,  where  bright- coloured 
bunches  of  flowers  peep  out  of  green  clusters.  In  the 
brushwood  below  several  old  friends  reappear,  but  also 
new  ones,  Berheris  Darwinii  and  other  armed  enemies 
of  the  explorer,  large  miniature  forests  of  bamboo 
{Chusquea  colihue),  with  yellowish- green,  polished  stems. 
Out  in  the  open  we  find  the  quila  {Chusquea  quila)^ 
tough,  rough,  and  prickly,  but  for  all  its  disagreeable 
characteristics  an  important  winter  food  for  cattle. 
All  was  silent  but  for  the  song  of  some  smaller  birds.  In 
vain  we  hoped  that  the  pretty  little  puduy  the  deer  of 
Chiloe,  would  turn  up.  In  old  times  guanaco  and 
hueniul  are  said  to  have  lived  here,  but  they  must  have 
disappeared  long  ago. 

We  returned  overland  to  Ancud,  following  the  high- 
m  Castro.  The  ill- famed  weather  was  still  nice, 
ax.  xud  the  dirty  huts  children  and  a  motley  company 
of  aninials  swarmed.  Never  a  border,  a  flower  in  the 
window  or  a  curtain,  nowhere  an  eflort  at  making  the 
home  comfortable.  The  Chilote  does  not  seem  to  have 
any  appreciation  of  things  of  that  sort.  The  nearer  we 
came  to  the  town  the  more  people  we  met  on  the  road : 
bullock- carts  of  the  characteristic  type,  with  whec's  of 


116  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

one  solid  wooden  block  and  a  wooden  shaft,  toil  their 
way  slowly  through  the  stiff  clay;  loaded  with  all 
sorts  of  parcels,  an  old  woman  conies  riding  on  a  small, 
shaggy  horse;  a  white- bearded  old  fellow  hobbles 
barefoot  in  the  mud,  tenderly  embracing  a  bottle 
recently  acquired  in  the  town. 

On  our  arrival  we  got  important  news :  the  Govern- 
ment steamer  Valdivia  was  in !  And  smeared  with 
clay  high  up  on  my  thighs,  and  equipped  in  all  the 
elegance  characteristic  of  the  tramp,  I  had  to  receive 
a  visit  from  the  commander,  who  presented  himself 
to  put  the  steamer  at  our  disposal.  In  order  to  survey 
a  larger  stretch  round  the  Corcovado  Gulf  we  had  asked 
the  Government  to  help  us;  with  the  answer  from 
Valparaiso  in  my  hand  I  turned  to  Commodore  K. 
Maldonado,  well  known  for  geographical  explorations 
of  the  Chilean  coasts.  He  was  stationed  in  Puerto  Montt, 
and  had  two  steamers  there  for  nautical  surveying 
purposes.  He  answered  immediately  by  sending  us 
the  Valdivia.  The  next  morning,  July  18,  we  steered 
out  of  the  bay — by  the  way,  a  rather  bad  harbour — 
passed  the  whirlpools  of  Canal  Chacao,  and  thence 
followed  the  west  coast,  where  civihzation  has  set 
its  stamp  everywhere.  On  the  evening  of  the  following 
day  we  arrived  at  Castro,  and  there  we  found  the  Tow 
before  us.  That  was  good  luck,  our  first  task  being 
to  find  that  steamer  and  go  aboard  her,  because 
the  Valdivia  was  not  fit  for  the  rather  dangerous  waters 
we  were  to  visit.  Our  new  steamer  wanted  a  day  to 
coal  and  provision,  which  gave  us  a  good  opportunity 
to  have  a  look  at  the  town,  a  title  with  which  the  place 


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CHILOE  AKD  THE  GULF  OF  COECOVADO  117 

is   honoured.     Castro   is,    however,    a   historic   place,  /y 
Founded  in  1567,  it  remained  the  capital  of  Chiloe 
until  1768,  and  has  a  big  church  and  a  convent  to 
remind  it  of  past,  glorious  days.     Otherwise  it  makes  a 
miserable  impression,  with  its  ruinous  houses  and  wretched  ■ 
streets,  where  the  wayfarer  finds  many  dangerous  pit- 
falls.    I  must  recommend  one  of  the  night  cafes.     We 
entered  on  an  earthen  floor,  sat  down  on  a  filthy  bench 
by  the  traditional  fire-pan,  and  a  roughly  used  Chilote 
woman  with  a  baby  at  the  breast  served  us  with  some 
very  doubtful,  poisonous  mixtures.     Soon  a  rotund  old 
woman  came  in,  took  a  glass  with  us,  and  put  life  into 
the  conversation.     They  knew,  of  course,  who  we  were ; 
gossip  is  not  at  all  lacking  in  Castro. 

Under  the  conamand  of  Captain  J.  E.  Merino,  the 
Tow  left  Castro  on  July  21,  and  after  a  short  visit  to 
Quellon  we  arrived  at  San  Pedro  Island,  at  the  south- 
eastern corner  of  Chiloe.  This  place  is  not  inhabited, 
but  we  found  some  Chilotes  there  busy  cutting  down 
big  trees.  Two  of  them  came  on  board  in  the  evening. 
The  weather  had  been  tolerably  good,  but  showed 
signs  of  getting  bad,  and  probably  we  should  have 
stopped  where  we  were,  waiting  till  it  had  settled  again, 
if  the  two  Chilotes  had  not  prophesied  a  fine  day  for 
our  visit  to  the  Isle  of  Huafo,  far  away  out  in  the 
open  sea. 

It  blew  hard  north  when  we  left  the  cove  and  the  rain 
poured  down.  Enormous  waves  rose  high  above  the 
little  steamer,  which  is  smaller  even  than  the  Huemul  ; 
the  wind  increased,  a  fog  came  on,  and  after  a  short 
consultation  we  resolved  to  seek  shelter  in  the  only 


118  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

place  available,  the  Huapiquilan  Islands.  Not  one 
of  the  officers  had  ever  visited  these  remote  islands, 
and  I  daresay  the  occasion  to  make  their  acquaintance 
was  not  very  well  chosen — had  there  been  any 
choice ! 

Without  adventure  we  managed  to  get  in  between 
them,  and  found  the  necessary  shelter  from  the  storm, 
that  now  raged  with  full  force.  The  next  morning  we 
still  had  a  gale  of  wind,  but  not  so  bad  as  the  day 
before,  and  we  resolved  to  try  to  reach  Huafo. 
Instantly  a  heavy  sea  met  us,  and  as  soon  as  we  lost 
the  shelter  of  land  we  got  as  much  as  we  could  stand. 
It  was  a  grand  sight.  We  were  half  drowned  in  floods 
of  water,  and  the  port  lifeboat  was  very  nearly  carried 
away  by  a  tremendous  wave.  We  had  hard  work  to 
stand  upright  on  deck,  cHnging  to  the  irons  of  the  bridge. 
The  gunwales  were  under  water  all  the  time ;  a  lot  of 
things  on  deck  broke  loose  and  danced  round  with 
the  eddying  waters.  When  we  reached  Samuel  Cove, 
the  only — and  hardly  useful — berth  on  the  island, 
the  wind  had  increased  still  more;  later  we  were 
told  that  the  anemometer  on  the  lighthouse  had  indi- 
cated 114  feet  per  sec.  It  was  high  time  for  us 
to  get  shelter;  but  do  not  think  that  for  this  reason 
we  got  a  calm  night !  The  small,  open  bay  is  full  of 
shoals,  and  there  is  no  room  to  swing;  but  with  two 
anchors  down  and  a  thick  hawser  round  some  big  trees 
on  the  shore  we  slept  tolerably  well  in  spite  of  the  con- 
siderable motion.  Next  day  the  storm  continued,  and 
we  landed  in  the  surf  at  the  mouth  of  a  stream,  along 
which  we  wanted  to  penetrate  into  the  virgin  forest. 


CHILOE  AND  THE  GULF  OF  CORCOVADO  119 

Not  very  often  have  I  seen  such  hixuriance  in  a  tem- 
perate cHmate.  Mosses  appeared  in  incredible  quan- 
tities, the  ferns  had  stems  of  a  man's  height,  bamboo 
surrounded  us  in  all  directions.  The  foliage  glittered 
with  moisture,  the  moss- carpet  was  like  a  swamp, 
and  we  soon  became  drenched  to  the  skin.  Showers 
of  rain  or  hail  completed  the  situation. 

On  board  the  crew  had  been  collecting  sea-urchins, 
and  at  dinner  we  made  a  feast  of!  these  dehcacies, 
which  are  highly  appreciated  in  Chile.  In  the  ali- 
mentary canal  of  the  sea-urchin  a  rather  large  parasitic 
crustacean  often  takes  up  its  quarters,  thus  leading 
a  most  comfortable  life.  This  animal  is  considered 
extremely  deHcious,  and  is  eaten  alive  and  kicking. 
I  ate  one  once,  but  never  again !  It  had  a  horrible 
taste,  and  besides  was  really  unpleasant  to  have  to 
do  with,  being  about  an  inch  and  a  half  broad. 

The  following  day  the  weather  had  settled  somewhat ; 
we  resolved  to  try  the  lighthouse,  which  is  situated 
high  up  on  a  precipitous  cliff.     We  brought  provisions 
and  the  mail,  which  were  landed  in  a  nasty  surf.     Outside 
the  sea  was  still  very  heavy,  and  we  anchored  in  a 
shallow  bay,  where  the  motion  would  allow  us  to  have 
our  luncheon.     From  the  ship  we  got  sight  of  some 
white  spots  moving  along  the  beach;    they  were  wild  J 
dogs  of  a  kind  that  has  lived  on  this  island  for  centuries.  ^ 
They  are  about  the  size  of  a  setter,  have  long  hair,  and '' 
are  dirty  white  in  colour.     They  are  very  shy.     Probably 
they  live  on  birds  and  their  eggs,  but  are  said  also  to  eat 
shellfish. 

It  was  aheady  three  o'clock  before  we  could  weigh 


120  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

again  in  order  to  go  back  to  Huapiquilan.  The  sky 
in  the  south-west  looked  threatening,  but  we  hoped  to 
get  out,  in  spite  of  the  big  sea  reducing  our  speed  con- 
siderably. But  before  we  had  time  to  think  the  gale 
came  rushing  on,  a  raging  wind  with  squalls  of  hail, 
wrapping  us  in  an  impenetrable  haze.  It  was  getting 
dark,  the  sky  was  black  as  soot,  and  with  forced  speed, 
as  much  as  the  boiler  could  stand,  we  made  for  the 
harbour.  Then  came  a  squall  heavier  than  the  rest, 
the  Toro  trembled  under  the  frightful  blow,  giant 
hailstones  whipped  our  face  and  made  it  hardly  possible 
to  keep  our  eyes  open,  darkness  hid  everything.  Some 
thrilling  seconds  ensued.  We  were  amidst  the  reefs — 
but  the  fog  lifted  for  a  moment,  giving  us  time  enough 
to  rush  through  the  narrow  gap,  the  entrance  to  the 
berth.  We  were  not  five  minutes  too  soon ;  night  had 
overtaken  us ! 

Between  sunken  rocks,  over  which  the  sea  broke 
into  pillars  of  foam,  we  headed  for  San  Pedro  again  on 
July  27.  I  intended  to  make  an  excursion  in  the  forest, 
and  I  made  the  captain  and  a  young  lieutenant  come 
with  me,  promising  them  an  experience  that  might 
prove  new  to  them.  I  myself  was  prepared  for  whatever 
should  come — for  Darwin  in  his  journals  has  erected 
an  epitaph  over  San  Pedro  forest  which  is  not  likely  to 
be  misunderstood.  We  had  to  climb  a  very  steep 
slope.  The  fallen  trees  do  not  decay  very  rapidly, 
but  form  immense  barricades,  especially  round  the 
numerous  streams;  as  usual  they  are  enveloped  in  a 
soaked  moss- carpet,  and  mosses  also  hang  down  in 
long  festoons  from  the  branches  and  wash  your  face. 


CHILOE  AND  THE  GULF  OF  COKCOVADO  121 

We  seldom  put  our  feet  on  the  ground,  but  climbed 
like  monkeys  from  one  trunk  to  the  next,  balancing 
over  the  abyss.  Deep  down,  as  deep  as  20  feet 
below,  we  caught  sight  of  a  muddy,  reddish  clay,  with 
which  we  now  and  then  had  to  make  closer  acquaintance 
as  a  log  suddenly  broke  and  we  were  sent  down  head- 
long, only  to  gain  the  lofty  path  once  more  by  creeping 
and  crawling  on  hands  and  knees.  A  hatchet  was  kept 
going  cutting  the  innumerable  creepers  which  caught 
arms  and  legs,  and  our  perseverance  was  put  to  a 
protracted  test.  Frequent  squalls  enlivened  our  adven- 
tures. The  poor  lieutenant  had  to  be  left  behind  quite 
exhausted;  we  rested  a  few  minutes  and  found  new 
strength  in  some  cold  meat  and  a  piece  of  bread,  and 
then  took  up  the  battle  again.  After  a  strenuous  climb 
on  our  hands  and  knees  we  gained  a  ridge,  whence  I  had 
hoped  to  get  a  good  view  of  the  island,  but  alas !  there 
was  another  valley  in  front  of  us,  and  behind  it  the 
next  ridge.  My  comrades  were  not  very  anxious  to 
go  any  further,  but  as  I  insisted  on  it  they  followed. 
The  valley  swallowed  us  up,  and  we  reached  the  other 
side,  and  came  out  of  the  high  forest  and  into  a  new  kind 
of  vegetation,  that  is  called  by  the  natives  tepual,  a 
tremendous  hedge.  Every  time  we  came  to  a  clear 
space  we  had  to  stop  to  breathe.  On  the  top  of  this 
ridge  were  extensive  swamps  with  scattered  cypresses 
{Lihocedrus  tetragona)  with  the  tepu  {Tepnalia  stipu- 
laris).  We  had  gained  a  height  of  1600  feet,  more  or 
less,  snow  was  falhng  thickly,  and  it  was  late  enough 
to  make  us  turn  back.  Half  unrecognizable  under  the 
mud,  with  scratched  faces  and  hands  and  our  clothes 


122  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

torn  to  rags,  we  reacted  the  beach  once  more.  The 
captain  had  hardly  any  trousers  left — but  certainly  a 
naval  officer's  uniform  was  not  made  for  the  forest  of 
San  Pedro. 

In  order  to  cross  the  gulf  we  first  had  to  visit  Quellon 
to  coal.  There  is  a  sawmill  there,  and  the  company's 
steamer  was  in.  We  found  the  captain  to  be  a  Swede, 
Mr.  T.  Landgren,  who  had  also  camped  with  Captain 
Merino  on  one  of  the  Chilean  men-of-war;  he  was  one 
of  the  Swedes  sent  out  at  the  request  of  the  Chilean 
Government  to  serve  as  filotos  in  the  navy,  which 
he  had  left  to  enter  into  private  service.  He  was  not 
a  little  astonished  to  meet  countrymen  here,  and  we 
rightly  celebrated  the  occasion  with  a  big  dinner  on 
board  his  vessel. 

As  Halle  wanted  to  visit  Queilen  for  geological 
investigations  we  also  spent  one  day  at  that  place. 
The  small  idylHc  village,  once  called  "  the  end  of 
Christianity,"  has  a  large  wooden  church  and  a  square 
flam,  where  fat  pigs  had  made  themselves  comfort- 
able in  the  green  grass. 

The  last  day  of  July  came  bright  and  frosty,  the  air 
was  clear,  and  we  crossed  the  gulf,  steaming  for  Mount 
Corcovado,  "  el  famoso,"  as  this  old  volcano  is  sometimes 
styled.  Few  summits  are  more  imposing  than  this  one, 
with  its  precipitous  peak  shining  like  snow-white  enamel 
against  the  blue  background.  We  wanted  to  land  at 
the  foot,  but  found  this  easier  said  than  done.  The 
beach  falls  off  at  a  rather  sharp  angle  and  the  surf  is 
strong  enough  to  play  with  the  coarse  shingle;  in  our 
little  yawl  we  could  not  venture  to  approach.     Fortu- 


CHILOE  AND  THE  GULF  OF  CORCOVADO  123 

nately  a  small  river  flows  out  close  by,  and  as  the  sea 
did  not  break  on  the  barrier  at  its  month  we  went  in 
with  a  rush  on  a  wave  and  stepped  on  shore.  The 
Tow  looked  for  an  anchorage  here,  but  did  not  find 
any,  and  we  had  to  steam  up  to  the  entrance  of  the  large 
Yelcho  river,  where  there  is  good  shelter  behind  an 
island.  The  place  was  inhabited,  a  company  for  a 
combined  sawmill  industry  and  colonization  enterprise 
having  its  headquarters  there. 

At  the  river  some  years  ago  a  Chilean  surveying 
party  had  its  station,  and  a  road  was  said  to  follow 
the  shore  inland.  Of  course  we  wanted  to  make  use 
of  this,  and  started  early  the  next  day  in  the  settled 
behef  of  being  able  to  walk  on  a  road.  After  a  while 
we  found  it,  broad  enough  for  a  bullock- cart — but  the 
joy  did  not  last  long.  A  few  hundred  yards  and  the 
noble  highway  dwindled  suddenly  into  a  narrow  path, 
from  which  only  the  worst  obstacles  had  been  removed  ! 
The  forest  is  so  swampy  that  one  cannot  walk  there 
during  the  rainy  season,  and  therefore  the  road  is 
plastered  with  logs  sometimes  right  across,  when  you 
jump  from  one  to  the  next,  sometimes  longitudinally, 
amd  then  you  have  to  balance — generally  there  is  only 
one  log.  Some  places  were  quite  dreadful ;  the  logs  were 
gone,  and  we  sank  down  knee- deep  at  once;  others 
were  transformed  into  bottomless  lagoons  where  we  had 
to  stop  to  pick  our  way.  But  as  the  day  passed  we  grew 
more  skilful  in  keeping  our  balance  than  we  had  ever 
been  in  our  lives  before.  At  last  the  path  disappeared 
in  a  bamboo  thicket;  probably  nobody  had  been  here 
for  many  years.    We  crawled  through,  found  the  path 


124  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

again,  and  went  down  to  the  river,  which  is  one  of  the 
largest  in  West  Patagonia.  We  returned  in  the  twihght 
with  a  good  lot  of  botanical  collections,  took  the  last 
barricade,  and  came  down  to  the  colony. 

From  Yelcho  we  went  to  the  beautiful  Eenihue  Fiord, 
and  thence  returned  to  Castro,  where  my  comrades 
stopped  in  order  to  ride  to  Ancud;  forced  by  circum- 
stances, I  returned  there  without  delay,  and  despatched 
the  Toro.  Few  of  our  excursions  have  left  such  agree- 
able memories  as  this  one  with  the  naval  officers,  who 
were  always  ready  to  render  every  service  possible. 
We  took  farewell  of  them  as  of  old  friends,  soon 
found  but  never  forgotten.  On  August  10  we  went 
on  board  the  Vest  fold,  passing  Ancud  on  the  way  to 
Valparaiso. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

IN  THE  HEART  OF  CHILE 

During  the  following  weeks  we  got  an  opportunity  of 
seeing  quite  new  features  of  Chile.  Hitherto  we  had 
almost  exclusively  travelled  in  parts  where  civilization 
had  not  reached  or  was  quite  new — the  big  island  of 
Chiloe  excepted  ;  but  the  difference  between  the  poor 
places  there  and  the  towns  we  now  visited  was  certainly 
enormous. 

The  more  important  towns  are  generally  situated  on 
the  coast  or  very  near  it,  and  sometunes  so  close  that 
only  a  few  hours'  journey  by  steamer  separates  themj 
Most  of  them  do  not  offer  much  of  interest  to  a  travelling 
European ;  they  do  not  afford  any  historical  memories 
or  examples  of  art  and  architecture,  and  they  are  not 
the  right  places  if  one  wishes  to  see  Chilean  customs. 
0  n  board  the  Vestfold  we  passed  several  towns.  Already 
elsewhere  I  have  mentioned  that  we  visited  Valdivia, 
with  its  port,  Corral.  The  last-named  little  town  has  a 
very  picturesque  situation,  and  can  boast  of  some  ruins 
of  the  Spanish  fortress.  Industry  is  beginning  to 
flourish  ;  a  Norwegian  whaling  company  has  a  station 
there,  and  a  French  syndicate  was  just  building  large 
electric  furnaces  to  melt  down  the  Chilean  iron  ores. 
Valdivia,  situated  at  some  distance  from  the  coast, 
on  the  Calle-calle  river,  is  a  German  town.    Everywhere 

125 


126  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

you  met  German  faces,  German  signboards  and  placards 
alongside  tlie  Spanish.  There  is  a  large  German  school, 
a  church  aud  various  Vereine,  large  shoe-factories, 
and,  of  course,  breweries.  It  gives  an  impression  of  a 
rapidly  increasing  community.  After  the  great  fire 
last  year  a  large  part  of  the  town  will  be  rebuilt  on  a 
much  grander  scale  than  before.  But  Valdivia  is 
especially  famous  for  its  streets.  Situated  in  one 
of  the  rainiest  parts  of  Chile,  surrounded  by  luxuriant 
forests,  the  town  literally  drips  with  moisture,  and  the 
streets  have  hardly  passed  the  state  of  the  forest  soil. 
One  can  only  cross  at  certain  places,  where  wooden 
causeways  are  laid,  and  we  saw  the  horses  wade  up  to  * 
their  bellies  in  the  mud,  the  wheels  of  the  carts  almost 
disappearing. 

In  Coronel  our  expedition  divided  again.  Halle  was 
kindly  taken  care  of  by  the  Swedish  Vice-Consul,  Mr. 
Gr.  Granfelt,  and  during  the  following  weeks  dedicated 
himself  to  a  geological  survey  of  the  interesting  coal- 
mines in  the  province  of  Arauco ;  he  made  his  head- 
quarters in  Coronel,  Lota,  and  Lebu,  and  obtained  very 
valuable  results.  Certainly  all  of  us  took  the  chance  of 
visiting  the  famous  park  in  Lota.  This,  as  well  as  a 
part  of  the  town  itself  and  the  coal-mines,  are  the  property 
of  the  family  Cousino.  Unfortunately,  the  park  is  not  as 
well  kept  as  it  used  to  be,  and  is  also  spoilt  by  a  palace 
with  four  f a9ades  in  four  different  styles,  and  by  dozens 
of  spmious  statues  of  a  very  suspiciously  German  origin. 
From  Lota,  Quensel  and  I  went  to  Concepcion,  a  larger 
town  of  pure  European  stamp,  and  from  there  by  electric 
tramway  to  its  port,  Talcahuano,  the  naval  port  of 


\'a1.1»1\  lA. 


Harbour  at  \'ai.i'akaiso. 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  CHILE        '       127 

Chile,  and  the  only  good  harbour  north  of  Chiloe.  There 
we  went  on  board  the  Vestfold  once  more.  On  August  14 
Valparaiso  spread  out  over  the  narrow  beach,  and, 
climbing  high  up  on  the  many  hills  behind,  lay  before 
us,  and  between  the  hundreds  of  steamers  and  sailing- 
vessels  we  were  conducted  to  an  anchorage. 

The  principal  reason  for  our  visit  here  was  that  we 
intended  to  make  an  excursion  to  the  Juan  Fernandez 
Islands,  which  we  accomplished  between  August  20  and 
31.  We  had  prepared  it  long  before,  and  Captain 
Lowenborg  pleaded  our  case  so  well  that  Admiral  Montt 
put  at  our  disposal  the  large  and  comfortable  transport 
vessel  the  Casma.  Before  the  trip  was  undertaken, 
and  also  after  our  return,  we  found  ample  time  to  see 
both  Valparaiso  and  Santiago,  with  their  scientific  in- 
stitutes, and  also  to  make  a  couple  of  longer  excursions. 
In  1906,  the  year  of  the  great  earthquake,  Valparaiso 
was  on  every  one's  tongue.  Two  years  had  elapsed 
since  that  tremendous  catastrophe,  but  numerous 
traces  were  still  left,  especially  as  the  authorities  have 
seized  the  opportunity  partly  to  re-plan  the  town, 
which  somewhat  delayed  the  rebuilding  of  waste  streets. 
Everywhere,  even  in  the  blocks  that  had  suffered  but 
little,  one  could  discover  filled-up  cracks  in  the  walls. 
In  Valparaiso  several  Swedes  live,  but  only  in  Santiago 
could  one  speak  of  a  real  Swedish  colony.  It  counts 
some  very  prominent  members.  I  need  only  mention 
a  couple  of  the  most  able  ofi&cers  in  the  army,  Colonel 
Ekdahl  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Schonmeyr,  or  the 
director  of  gymnastics,  Mr.  J.  Billing,  late  lieutenant 
in  the  Swedish  army.     The  reception  given  to  us  by 


128  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGOIfIA 

our  countrymen  in  Santiago  will  always  remain  one  of 
the  most  agreeable  memories  of  our  journey. 

Santiago  is  famous  for  its  situation  at  the  foot  of  the 
Andes.    I  daresay  there  is  nothing  in  the  world  like  its  ^j 
racecourse,  with  snowy  peaks  and  crests  many  thousand    '' 
feet  high  as  decoration.    I  am  afraid,  however,  that  the 
fine  view  does  not  account  for  the  enormous  number  of 
people  there. 

Nature  in  Central  Chile  is  truly  different  from  all 
we  had  seen  before  of  that  country.  The  climate  is 
warm  and  dry,  even  on  the  coast ;  only  in  the  valleys  ^  i 
of  the  coast  cordillera  is  there  forest,  formed  by  a  number 
of  fine  trees,  most  of  which  I  had  not  met  with  before. 
On  the  plateaus  and  ridges  the  reddish  soil  shines  through, 
and  with  its  peculiar  plants,  amongst  them  the  large 
pillar-cactus  (Cereus),  it  gives  the  impression  of  a  semi- 
desert.  One  ought  to  see,  as  we  did,  these  parts  in 
springtime,  when  beautiful  lilies,  orchids,  &c.,  adorn 
the  earth.  With  the  approach  of  summer  they  go  to 
sleep. 

Between  Valparaiso  and  Santiago  one  passes  one  of  the 
sources  of  wealth  in  Chile,  the  central  valley  between  the 
two  mountain  ranges — vast  prairies,  thousands  of  cattle  ■*  ^ 
and  large  vineyards  everywhere.  Through  the  kindness 
of  the  Transandine  Railway  Company  we  visited  the 
much- spoke n-of  tunnel  joining  Chile  and  Argentina, 
and  at  the  same  time  a  grand  mountain  district.  The 
railway  starts  from  the  small  town  Los  Andes.  Here 
we  have  a  typical  Chilean  country  town,  with  low  white, 
pink,  or  light  blue  buildings  of  one  storey,  mostly  not  '^  , 
very    well    kept,  long   brown  earthen  walls,  broken 


IN  THE  HEx\RT  OF  CHILE  129 

and  picturesque — how  well  tlie  flowering  peach-trees 
stand  out  against  the  dark  clay  !  The  sun  scorches, 
there  are  clouds  of  thick  brown  dust  over  the  streets, 
covering  the  willows  and  their  opening  buds,  marring 
the  finery  of  the  horsemen.  It  is  dia  de  fiesta,  the 
birthday  of  the  Holy  Virgin ;  dark-faced  Don  Juans, 
with  trappings  and  enormous  spurs  of  silver,  embroidered 
leggings  and  many-coloured,  homespun  poncho,  gallop 
towards  the  garlanded  triumphal  arches  forming  a 
walk  up  to  the  church.  Evening  steals  upon  Los 
Andes,  life  dozes  ofi,  only  now  and  then  the  faint  notes 
of  a  guitar  reach  us.  The  sun  sinks,  the  mountains 
glow  in  the  last  beams,  then  the  outlines  fade  away, 
snow-patches  and  bare  rock  melt  together  into  a  blue 
haze  and  darken  to  deep  night.  The  moon  rises, 
drowning  the  peach-blossom  in  floods  of  silver,  every- 
thing dusty  and  ugly  disappears  in  the  soft  lustre.  But 
a  strenuous  day  is  in  store  for  us,  and  we  are  forced 
regretfully  to  go  to  sleep. 

The  train  winds  up  the  valley  of  Aconcagua,  lined 
with  gay  groves,  adorned  by  many  flowers ;  the  river 
sinks  deeper  and  deeper,  the  air  grows  thin,  pure,  and 
cool.  The  rack  commences,  higher  and  higher  we  rise. 
In  Juncal  our  special  train  was  stopped.  The  line  was 
ready  for  another  nine  and  a  half  miles,  but  as  work  was 
going  on  in  two  of  the  thirteen  tunnels  on  this  stretch 
we  had  to  mount  the  mules  kept  in  readiness  for  us. 
Besides  the  guide,  Mr.  Curtis,  whom  the  company  had 
sent  with  us,  we  got  an  additional  member  for  our 
party,  the  police-sergeant  in  Juncal ;  the  road  was  not 
considered  safe  just  then,  and  the  police  wanted  to  be 


130  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

at  hand  in  case  anything  should  happen.  We  rose  in 
an  eternal  zigzag  line  ;  in  all  directions  we  enjoyed 
grand  scenery,  but  Nature  was  still  in  the  grip  of  winter. 
At  some  distance  we  passed  Laguna  del  Inca,  one  of  j 
the  most  beautiful  mountain  lakes  I  ever  saw,  and  late  J 
in  the  evening  we  arrived  at  the  entrance  of  the  tunnel, 
Caracoles,  where  we  were  invited  to  dinner  by  the 
English  engineer  ;  we  had  a  merry  time,  and  from  the 
gramophone  horn  Melba  and  Caruso  competed  for  our 
favour. 

Each  of  us  got  on  a  pair  of  rubber  boots  and  had  a 
lamp  to  carry,  and  we  splashed  into  the  tunnel,  where 
work  was  going  on  day  and  night,  and  where  we  got  an 
idea  of  how  a  tunnel  is  made.  The  total  length,  1*9 
miles,  was  evidently  not  very  considerable,  but  the 
loose  quality  of  the  rock  made  work  very  difficult. 
At  the  time  of  our  visit  a  thick  wall  still  separated  the 
two  republics ;  last  year,  however,  the  first  train  passed 
under  the  enormous  mass  of  the  Andes.  We  were  glad 
to  get  out  into  the  cold  night  air  once  more,  and  sit 
down  and  enjoy  some  whisky  and  a  pipe  of  tobacco. 

Life  among  the  labourers  and  the  scum  of  mankind 
seeking  its  way  across  the  Uspallata  pass  is  rather  wild.  "^ 
A  few  weeks  before  our  arrival  eleven  men  left  Caracoles 
to  cross  to  the  Argentine  side.  They  never  got  there. 
They  appeared,  however,  when  the  snow  melted ;  for 
every  spring,  when  the  road  across  is  put  in  order, 
the  bodies  of  those  who  have  disappeared  during  the 
winter  are  found,  frozen  to  ice,  partly  robbed  of  their 
clothes,  sometimes  with  the  pockets  turned  inside  out — 
murdered,  robbed,  and  simply  left.    The  soil  of  that 


IN  THB  HEAKT  OF  CHILE  131 

pass  is  literally  soaked  with  the  blood  of  the  victims 
of  assassins  and  highwaymen. 

When  traffic  is  open  it  is  no  risk  for  the  railway 
passengers  to  cross.  More  than  30  feet  of  snow  have 
been  recorded  near  the  pass,  and  during  the  winter 
the  railway  has  not  hitherto  been  used.  Traffic  had 
not  begun,  the  road  lay  partly  under  snow  and  ice, 
but  with  a  guide  as  excellent  as  ours  we  did  not  hesitate 
to  cross.  We  had  a  splendid  morning  on  September  10. 
The  ground  was  frozen  hard,  the  ice  jingled  like  broken 
glass  under  the  hoofs  of  our  mules.  With  uncommon 
agility  they  passed  the  most  dangerous  places,  of  which 
there  was  no  lack.  The  sergeant  made  a  halt  at  a  small 
stone  house  he  wanted  to  inspect,  took  his  carbine 
with  the  air  of  an  official,  and  entered,  but  was  soon 
back,  there  being  no  traces  of  the  rascals  he  was  looking 
for.  The  thin  air  made  us  feel  a  slight  pressure  across 
the  temples,  but  otherwise  it  did  not  affect  us.  We 
reached  the  pass,  la  cumbre,  on  a  height  of  13,000 
feet,  thus  having  a  good  deal  of  our  globe  under 
our  feet.  Some  few  steps  from  us  is  the  gigantic  statue 
of  Christ,  erected  as  a  monument  to  the  eternal  peace 
between  the  two  republics,  but  not  a  living  soul,  not  a 
blade  of  grass,  only  rock  and  snow. 

With  legs  stiff,  so  that  the  loose  sand  whirled  round 
them,  our  mules  slide  down  the  most  westerly  slopes  of 
Argentina,  and  we  reached  Las  Cuevas,  the  entrance 
to  the  tunnel  on  the  Argentine  side.  From  there  we 
continued  our  ride  and  passed  the  valley  where  Acon- 
cagua, hitherto  regarded  as  the  highest  mountain  in 
America,  makes  the  background.    Huascaran  is  now 


132  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

said  to  compete  for  the  honour,  but  as  the  proofs 
are  not  sufficient  we  took  off  our  caps  and  bowed  to  his 
Alpine  majesty.  In  Bano  del  Inca,  where  one  has  to 
cross  the  famous  natural  bridge,  we  tried  the  sulphur 
baths ;  no  doubt  we  were  the  very  first  visitors  that 
year.  We  turned  round  and  slept  in  Las  Cuevas,  and 
the  next  morning  Mr.  Curtis  and  I  crossed  to  Chile 
again,  Quensel  waiting  till  the  next  day.  Our  journey 
from  Caracoles  to  Los  Andes  was  rather  original ;  with 
fine  disdain  for  the  train,  we  used  a  trolley.  Down  we 
went,  sometimes  at  a  breakneck  speed,  but  the  intense 
feeling  of  freedom  made  us  forget  the  risk.  The  line 
for  long  stretches  runs  on  narrow  shelves,  cut  in  the 
steep  mountain-sides  ;  derailment  would  mean  instan- 
taneous death.  Further  down  we  were  very  nearly  run 
over  by  a  train,  and  just  had  time  to  throw  ourselves 
and  the  trolley  off  the  rail.  Situations  rapidly  change 
in  this  world  :  in  the  morning  we  experienced  a  tempera- 
ture of  several  degrees  below  freezing-point  on  the  high 
crests  of  the  desolate  Cordillera ;  at  night  that  same  day 
we  were  enjoying  the  tepid  air  between  the  park  trees 
in  a  big  city. 

From  another  excursion  to  the  coast  at  Zapallar,  north 
of  Valparaiso,  I  returned  just  in  time  to  take  part  in 
the  great  national  feast,  from  September  18  to  20,  the 
anniversary  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  1810. 
It  is  a  real  people's  feast,  celebrated  with  the  same 
enthusiasm  by  all  classes  of  society.  Aristocracy  has 
its  processions,  Te  Deum,  races,  and  military  parades, 
the  people  dance  la  cueca  and  drink  cliicha  in  the 
parks   all   night   long.     I   could   not  deny  that   the 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  CHILE  133 

air  itself  was  really  filled  with  a  feeling  of  festivity, 
the  whole  country  being  decorated  with  banners  of  all 
colours,  garlands,  and  triumphal  arches,  while  on  the 
railway  the  engines  were  adorned  with  green  leaves, 
flowers,  and  flags,  and  everywhere  were  heard  patriotic 
speeches  and  the  playing  of  bands.  And  for  three  whole 
days  no  one  who  is  not  forced  to  does  any  work. 

When  Halle  had  finished  his  work  he  joined  us  in 
Santiago,  and,  using  the  great  central  railway,  running 
longitudinally  through  the  Valle  Central,  we  went 
to  Valdivia  once  more.  In  Corral  we  took  a  passenger 
steamer;  it  was  the  Teno,  with  a  Swede,  Mr.  Boklund, 
as  captain — another  late  piloto,  who  had  left  the  navy 
after  some  years'  service.  Again  we  visited  Ancud,  said 
good-bye  to  all  our  friends  there,  took  on  board  our 
equipment,  and  crossed  the  gulf  to  Puerto  Montt,  where 
we  were  now  going  to  prepare  the  expedition  over- 
land through  the  whole  of  Patagonia. 


CHAPTER  IX 

ROBINSON  CRUSOE'S  ISLAND 

Far  out  in  the  PacificOcean,  360  nautical  miles  west  of 
Valparaiso,  lies  a  small  island,  called  Juan  Fernandez, 
or  Masatierra  {i.e.,  Nearer  Land) ;  another  96  miles 
further  out  we  find  a  second  rocky  islet,  bearing  the  J 
name  of  Masafuera  ( =  Further  Away) ;  and  at  the 
west  end  of  Masatierra  a  much  smaller  islet,  Santa 
Clara,  rises  out  of  the  breakers.  These  three  islands 
together  form  the  Juan  Fernandez  group.  From 
the  first  moment  I  got  to  know  anything  about  the 
nature  and  plant-life  of  this  highly  remarkable  place 
and  saw  a  photograph  of  Masatierra,  I  had  longed  to 
go  there — ^without  any  hope  whatever  of  getting  nearer 
to  it  than  dreaming  of  that  scientist's  paradise.  When, 
in  1907,  I  left  Sweden  on  my  second  long  journey  I 
had  not  the  slightest  idea  that  one  year  later  I  should 
in  fact  land  on  Juan  Fernandez.  Through  the  valuable 
assistance  of  the  Chilean  authorities  we  had  been 
able  to  save  much  time,  new  schemes  arose,  and  the 
idea  of  being  able  to  realize  my  dream  of  bygone  days 
made  my  heart  beat  with  expectation.  Negotiations 
were  opened,  with  the  result  already  mentioned 
above. 

The  Casma  was  a  good  vessel  of  4000  tons  and  very 
spacious ;    saloons  and  cabins  were  large  and  com  - 

134 


ROBINSON  CRUSOE'S  ISLAND  135 

fortable.  Her  commander  was  Captain  F.  Dublc,  of 
the  Chilean  navy  ;  we  shall  never  forget  his  kindness 
and  the  courtesy  of  his  officers. 

At  daybreak  on  August  22  a  sailor  came  into  my 
cabin  to  announce  that  Masatierra  had  been  sighted. 
We  came  on  the  bridge  in  haste,  anxious  to  behold 
the  wonderland.  At  a  distance  it  looked  like  any  other 
wild,  storm-beaten,  rocky  island,  and  I  cannot  say  that 
this  impression  weakened  as  we  approached.  The  sky- 
high  peaks,  the  valleys  with  their  precipitous  slopes, 
the  breakers  rolling  in  on  broken  cliffs,  everything  gave 
an  almost  repulsive  impression  of  desolation.  However, 
it  soon  greatly  modified  as  we  came  into  the  open 
harbour,  Cumberland  Bay,  where  bright  green  patches 
showed  up  on  the  slopes  interspersed  with  patches 
of  the  naked  red  soil,  where  dark  forests  stretched 
high  up  in  the  valleys  and  over  the  ridges,  and  where 
a  cluster  of  small  wooden  huts,  here  and  there  with 
a  piece  of  garden,  showed  that  here  also  the  hiunan 
race  had  found  means  of  subsistence,  perhaps  of 
happiness. 

We  set  our  foot  on  the  shore  of  a  legendary  island. 
Dear  reader,  do  you  remember  how  the  wonderful 
fortunes  and  adventures  of  Robinson  Crusoe  interested 
you,  when  you  were  a  small  boy  or  girl  and  went  to 
the  infant  school  ?  Did  you  not  dream  that  it  rained 
drops  "  large  as  pigeon's  eggs,"  or  that  you  discovered 
on  the  sandy  sea-shore  those  footprints  making  your  i 
blood  curdle  with  terror  ?  How  the  tale  of  Robinson 
excited  the  imagination  at  the  same  time  that  it  taught 
us  so  many  useful  things  ! 


136  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

Perhaps  many  of  us  would  feel  disappointment  when 
lauded  on  Robinson's  island.  Where  is  the  tropical 
luxuriance,  where  are  the  parrots,  monkeys,  and  tortoises, 
where  the  descendants  of  Friday's  people  ?  Well, 
certainly  Defoe  let  fancy  run  away  with  him;  he 
has  adorned  his  island  with  all  the  richness  of  the  . 
tropics,  and  makes  his  hero  land  there  under  the 
most  dramatic  circumstances.  But  I  myself  did  not 
think  of  the  difierence  between  truth  and  fiction ; 
the  former  seemed  to  me  wonderful  enough,  and  I 
was  seized  by  a  feeling  of  pure  joy  when  I  thought 
t(hat  I  was  really  here,  walking  about  on  that  soil, 
and  able  to  live  through  the  favourite  book  of  early 
childhood  again. 

Masatierra  is  a  steep,  rocky  island,  with  an  area 
of  only  38  square  miles.  When  you  are  down 
at  the  harbour  the  chances  for  excursions  seem 
rather  limited,  for  the  slopes  rise  high  and  steep  all 
round.  In  reality  one  stands  on  the  bottom  of  an  old  "^ 
volcano,  surrounded  by  its  semicircular  wall,  out  of  "^ 
which  some  parts,  such  as  the  precipitous  Pico 
Central  and  the  Yunque  (certainly  deserving  its 
name,  "  The  Anvil "),  rise  more  distinctly.  The  last  one, 
with  a  height  of  3040  feet,  is  the  highest  siunmit. 
Thanks  to  some  narrow  paths,  running  in  zigzag,  it  is 
possible  to  get  out  of  the  crater  and  cross  the  ridges, 
and  thus  reach  the  bays  on  both  sides.  Many  slopes, 
however,  are  not  possible  to  clunb,  and  the  name  of 
one  of  the  crests,  Salsipuedes,  which  means  "  try  to  get 
out  if  you  can,"  reminds  one  of  this. 

The  spot  to  which  the  stranger  first  makes  his  way  is 


ROBINSON  CRUSOE'S  ISLAND  137 

Portezuelo  de  Villagra,  a  sharp  gap  in  the  southern 
ridge,  where  Robinson  is  said  to  have  climbed  to  look 
out  over  the  ocean.  Following  the  dirty  roads  between 
the  houses,  we  ascend  slowly  till  we  come  to  the  many- 
coloured,  steep  slopes  of  volcanic  tufas  and  the  path 
disappears  in  a  thicket  of  maqui.  The  maqui  {Aristo- 
telia)  has  been  imported  from  the  continent  in  late 
years,  and  this  disagreeable  tree  is  now  spreading 
rapidly,  threatening  the  original  vegetation  with 
annihilation.  However,  it  does  not  reach  Very 
far,  and  we  soon  got  rid  of  it.  We  now  start  to 
climb  the  steep  mountain-wall,  where  the  path  winds 
along  in  a  very  sharp  zigzag ;  one  can  sometimes 
jump  down  directly  into  one  path  from  the  next 
above  it. 

It  is  time  to  have  a  look  at  the  peculiar  natural 
features  round  us.  From  a  botanical  point  of  view 
Juan  Fernandez  is  one  of  the  world's  most  famous 
places.  It  is  often  the  case  that  islands  lying  far  away 
from  the  great  continents  exhibit  a  marvellous  animal 
and  plant  life,  containing  genera  and  species  not  found 
elsewhere — endemic,  as  they  are  called  ;  in  this  respect 
Juan  Fernandez  is  perhaps  only  surpassed  by  the 
Sandwich  Islands.  About  65  per  cent,  of  the  total 
number  of  vascular  plants  (phanerogams  and  ferns) 
are  confined  to  that  small  group  of  isles.  It  is  as  if  one 
had  been  carried  back  to  past  geological  periods,  as  if 
one  walked  about  in  a  living  museum,  crowded  with 
rare  specunens.  So  many  wonderful  plants  are  brought 
together  here  on  a  small  area  that  one  must  touch 
them  to  realize  that  one  does  not  dream.    Especially 


138  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

worthy  of  attention  are  the  small,  sparingly  branched 
trees  with  long,  thin,  more  or  less  erect  naked  branches 
crowned  by  a  rosette  of  large,  thin  leaves.  For  the  most 
part  they  are  members  of  the  composite  order,  but 
other  orders  also  have  representatives.  It  is  besides 
a  remarkable  fact  that  this  type  of  organization  is  found 
also  on  other  oceanic  islands — the  Canary  Isles,  for 
instance.  The  flora  is  without  doubt  very  old,  of  a 
tertiary  origin  or  older,  and  must  have  come  from  the 
South  American  continent,  but  for  several  reasons 
disappeared  to  a  great  extent  on  the  mainland.  The  ^/^ 
ice  age  cannot  have  had  any  influence  of  importance  ^ 
on  Juan  Fernandez. 

In  the  narrow  gorges  (quehradas)  that  we  pass  there  ^^ 
is  a  dense  and  impenetrable  primeval  forest.  It  looks 
black-green,  thanks  to  the  dark  foliage  of  the  endemic 
myrtle-tree,  which  we  found  in  bud  and  flower  in  spite 
of  the  early  date  of  our  visit.  Above  the  other  trees 
rises  the  masterpiece  of  creation,  la  chonta,  the  endemic 
palm  (Juania  australis).  It  is  impossible  not  to  caress 
the  smooth  green  stem  as  one  tries  to  get  a  sight  of  its 
majestic  head  of  large  pinnate  leaves.  Glorious  it  is, 
a  true  princeps  of  the  vegetable  kingdom,  noble 
from  top  to  root.  Unfortunately  it  is  only  too  popular. 
It  is  persecuted  with  saw  and  hatchet,  every  ship 
brings  away  trunks  and  young  plants,  and  it  has  already 
been  exterminated  from  all  places  easy  of  access.  The 
top  is  used  as  cabbage,  the  trunk  is  carved  into  beautiful 
walking-sticks,  and  the  young  plants  are  put  in  the 
gardens  on  the  coast — in  spite  of  the  fact  that  we  have 
sufficient  proofs  that  the  chonta  cannot  grow  on  the  ^J 


KOBINSON  CRUSOE'S  ISLAND  139 

maiulaud.  In  1895  Professor  Joliow,  of  Santiago,  the 
most  prominent  specialist  in  the  flora,  proposed  to 
the  authorities  to  protect  the  tree  in  question,  and 
I  was  told  that  there  exists  a  law  on  the  subject. 
However,  nobody  seems  to  take  any  notice  of  such 
a  trifle. 

Creeping  or  winding  plants  are  hardly  met  with, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  ferns.  Arboreous  ferns, 
together  with  chonta  and  sandal-wood,  have  made  the 
islands  well  known  to  non-scientists  also.  The  fern 
flora  is  really  very  rich ;  there  are  all  types  of  growth, 
from  the  mighty  fern-trees,  reminding  one  of  mountain 
forests  in  the  tropics,  to  the  wonderful  members  of 
genera  such  as  Hy7neno'pJiyllum  and  Trichomanes,  thin  as 
tissue-paper,  or  the  creeper  species  adorning  the  trunks 
of  the  trees.  The  ferns  also,  especially  the  arboreous, 
are  the  objects  of  a  reckless  war  of  extermination ; 
and  our  fellow  travellers  on  the  Casma  were  not 
better  than  their  predecessors,  though  I  expostulated 
with  them  on  the  matter  every  day.  It  hurt  me  to 
see  one  boat-load  after  the  other  of  precious  plants 
taken  on  board  the  steamer,  most  of  them  only  to  be 
wasted. 

We  have  arrived  at  the  fortezudo,  or  Selkirk's  Look- 
out, as  this  picturesque  spot  is  sometimes  called.  The 
trees  are  very  low,  or  have  been  replaced  by  strange 
shrubs  mingled  with  the  cmiiovi^  fangue  [Gunnerapeltceta), 
and  forming  a  very  entangled  mass.  On  a  vertical 
mountain-wall  is  the  tablet  erected  in  honour  of  the  true 
Robinson,  the  Scotch  sailor  Alexander  Selkirk.  The 
inscription  runs  as  follows  : 


140  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

In  Memokt  of 

ALEXANDER  SELKIRK, 

Mariner, 

A  native  of  Largo  in  the  county  of 

Fife,  Scotland. 
Who  lived  on  this  island  in  com- 
plete sohtude,  for  four  years 
and  four  months. 
He  was  landed  from  the  Cinque 
Ports  galley,  96  tons,  16  guns,  a.d. 

1704,  and  was  taken  off  in  the 
Duke,  privateer,  12th  Feb.  1709. 
He  died  lieutenant  of  H.M.S.  Wey- 
mouth, a.d.  1723,  aged  47  years. 
This  tablet  is  erected 
near  Selkirk's  lookout  by 
Commodore  Powell  and  the 
officers  of  H.M.S.  Topaze,  a.d.  1868. 

This  is  the  historical  basis  of  Defoe's  work.  It 
may  look  somewhat  meagre,  but  one  can  understand 
that  poor  Selkirk  had  to  work  to  preserve  his  life. 
What  a  mental  trial,  not  to  hear  a  word  spoken  by 
another,  not  to  see  a  human  soul  for  four  years  and  four 
months !  Thus  his  fate  was  pretty  adventurous  even 
if  told  without  embellishment.  On  the  other  hand,  he 
left  his  ship  at  his  own  request,  discontented  with  the 
life  on  board.  Besides,  he  might  have  chosen  a  worse 
place.  The  climate  is  very  mild,  it  rains  just  enough, 
snow  or  frost  is  unknown.  A  few  plants  are  edible,  and 
the  goats,  which  were  much  more  numerous  in  Selkirk's 
time  than  they  are  now,  provided  him  with  fresh  meat. 

Through  a  walk  lined  with  marvellous  trees  and 
precious  ferns  we  pass  the  natural  gate  and  are  on  the 
south  side  of  the  island.  Down  it  goes,  almost  as 
precipitous  as  on  the  other  side.  We  have  a  magnifi- 
cent view  of  the  coast  and  Santa  Clara,  where  a  tre- 
mendous surf  roars.    Soon  we  came  out  of  the  forest, 


Rohinson's  i,ooKoi:i,  wnii  coMMKMdKArivK  r.\i!i.i:i-. 


ROBINSON  CRUSOE'S  ISLAND  141 

and  continued  on  to  the  barren  slopes  near  the  sea.  The 
vegetation  here  is  more  like  that  of  a  steppe,  with  short 
grass  and  some  heath-plants  ;  only  along  the  streams 
is  there  a  bright  green  strip,  a  mosaic  of  gigantic  pangue- 
leaves.  And  we  bent  the  thick  stalks  at  the  side  and 
drank  to  the  health  of  Masatierra  and  Robinson  and  the 
whole  world.  There  is  only  one  way  back,  the  way 
we  had  come  ;  it  was  getting  dark  and  we  hurried 
on  through  showers  of  rain ;  large  drops  splashed  on 
the  heads  of  the  rosette-trees,  the  soil  emitted  strong, 
peculiar  scents.  The  last  part  of  the  way  we  slid  down 
in  the  slippery  clay. 

Above  I  happened  to  mention  the  sandal- wood.  The 
discovery  of  this  kind  of  wood,  famous  since  the  days 
of  Solomon,  on  Juan  Fernandez  most  surely  attracted 
notice.  We  have  no  reports  of  it  previous  to  1624, 
when,  according  to  Burney,  L'Heremite  reported  sandal- 
trees  in  great  number.  According  to  another  authority 
ships  used  to  visit  the  place  as  early  as  1664  to  bring 
the  valuable  wood  to  the  coast,  where  it  was  highly 
appreciated.  One  did  not  think  of  preserving  anything ; 
a  hundred  years  later  it  was  hardly  possible  to  find  a 
living  tree,  and  in  the  beginning  of  last  century  it  was 
regarded  as  extinct.  No  botanist  had  ever  seen  the 
leaves  or  flowers.  Suddenly  F.  Philippi  in  Santiago 
got  some  fresh  twigs  brought  to  him  in  1888  ;  he  found 
them  to  belong  to  the  genus  Santalum ;  the  species 
being  new,  it  received  the  name  of  S.  fernandezianum. 
The  general  interest  in  the  tree  was  increased,  but 
nobody  told  where  the  branches  came  from  ;  a  living 
tree   was   still   unkaown.    Only   in   1892   did  Johow 


142  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

get  news  of  one  ;  a  colonist  had  found  it  in  Puerto 
Ingles,  high  up  in  the  valley.  He  was  the  first  botanist 
who  saw  this  plant.  It  is  easily  understood  that  I  was 
anxious  to  become  the  second.  How  many  people  had 
^.  looked  for  other  specimens!  All  their  efforts  were 
fruitless  ;  as  far  as  we  knew  Johow's  tree  was  the  very 
last.    If  it  were  still  there  ! 

The  man  who  brought  Johow  to  the  spot  still  lived, 
and  after  we  had  explained  our  purely  scientific  interest 
he  promised  to  send  his  son  with  us.  It  would  have 
been  more  than  uncertain  for  us  alone  to  look  for  a 
single  tree  in  a  valley  clad  with  virgin  forest. 

It  is  possible  to  climb  across  the  ridge  that  separates 
Cumberland  Bay  from  the  English  Harbour,  but  we 
preferred  to  go  there  with  a  well-manned  boat.  The 
landing  is,  as  in  most  places  on  the  islands,  performed 
with  some  risk ;  one  must  jump  just  at  the  right  moment, 
and  there  has  to  be  a  good  crew  in  the  yawl,  or  the  boat 
would  be  thrown  on  the  rocks  and  capsized.  Perhaps 
I  ought  to  mention  that  the  place  in  question  only  has 
the  name  of  a  harbour.  We  walked  up  the  valley 
and  made  an  ascent  of  the  western  side  ;  the  place  is  so 
steep  that  one  is  forced  to  grasp  the  trees  and  shrubs 
to  get  a  foothold.  Our  guide  stopped,  looked  round 
for  a  minute,  down  a  few  hundred  yards,  and  we  had 
reached  our  destination.  The  last  sandal-tree.  Abso- ,  , 
lutely  the  last  descendant  of  Santalum  fernandezianum. 
It  is  so  queer  to  stand  at  the  death-bed  of  a  species ;  ^i  J 
probably  we  were  the  last  scientists  who  saw  it  living. 
We  look  at  the  old  tree  with  a  religious  respect,  touch 
the  stem  and  the  firm,  dark  green  leaves — it  is  not  only 


ROBINSON  CRUSOE'S  ISLAND  143 

an  individual,  it  is  a  species  that  is  dying.  It  cannot 
last  very  long.  There  is  only  one  little  branch  left 
fresh  and  green ;  the  others  are  dead.  We  cut  a  piece 
to  get  specimens  of  the  peculiar  red,  strongly  scented 
wood.  A  photo  was  taken,  I  made  some  observations 
on  the  place,  and  we  said  good-bye.  Should  I  happen 
to  go  there  once  more  I  shall  not  see  the  sandal- tree  ; 
it  will  be  dead  and  its  body  cut  up  into  precious  pieces 
— curiosities  taken  away  by  every  stranger. 

In  the  evening  we  gathered  in  the  cavern  near  the 
shore,  Robinson's  Grotto,  as  it  is  generally  called.  May- 
be that  Selkirk  slept  here  a  couple  of  nights ;  we  know 
that  he  did  not  take  up  his  permanent  quarters  in  this 
place.  The  ofi&cers  from  the  Casma  met  us  here,  bring- 
ing some  dinner  for  us.  How  excellent  it  tasted  in  the 
spirit  of  poetry  lent  by  Robinson's  Grotto,  after  what  in 
my  journals  is  entitled  "the  day  of  the  sandal-tree  "  ! 

Early  in  the  morning  of  August  26  we  left  Cumber- 
land Bay,  passed  the  magnificent  coast  cliffs,  especially 
noteworthy  at  Cape  Salinas,  continued  to  the  south- 
western promontory  of  the  island,  and  anchored  in 
Bahia  del  Padre.  All  this  coast  is  more  or  less  difficult 
of  approach,  and  only  in  fine  weather  can  one  effect  a 
landing.  We  had  enjoyed  several  days  of  calm,  and 
were  pretty  sure  of  success.  One  of  the  colonists,  a 
Frenchman,  accompanied  us,  bringing  with  him  a  small 
flat-bottomed  boat ;  without  this  a  landing  would 
not  have  been  safe,  as  the  water  is  very  shallow  close 
to  the  cliff,  where  one  has  to  jump  ashore.  There  is 
always  a  heavy  surf.  The  excursion,  as  usual,  was  a 
miniature  Alpine  tour.     Round  the  coast  grow  fine 


144  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

seaweeds,  and  there  was  a  rich  animal  life,  so  that  the 
result  of  our  work  turned  out  very  well.  At  nightfall 
we  weighed  anchor  and  made  for  Masafuera,  finding 
ourselves  outside  Quebrada  de  las  Casas,  the  only 
anchorage,  at  daybreak.  Everybody  on  board  looked 
forward  to  this  visit  with  some  excitement ;  the  shore 
there  is  a  steep  slope,  with  large  boulders  and  a  heavy 
surf;  several  days  may  pass  without  a  landing  being 
possible,  and  in  any  case  one  must  be  prepared  to  get 
wet.    We  had  very  good  luck. 

The  topography  of  Masafuera  is  more  peculiar  still 
than  that  of  Masatierra.  Its  area  is  less — 34  square 
miles — but  the  height  is  more  than  double,  for 
the  summit  rises  to  6500  feet.  Its  shape  is  that  of 
a  regular  cone.  The  top  is  situated  in  the  south- 
western quarter ;  the  north-western  is  occupied  by  a 
plateau,  3000  to  4500  feet  high.  Towards  the  east 
a  series  of  narrow  gorges  radiate  like  the  ribs  of  a  fan, 
of  which  Quebrada  de  las  Casas  is  the  largest  and  the 
only  one  inhabited.  From  our  beach  we  had  seen  some 
houses ;  we  did  not  take  any  notice  of  them,  but  started 
to  climb  the  mountain-side  without  delay.  After  having 
crossed  several  forest-clad  ravines,  we  found  ourselves  on 
the  plateau ;  the  forest  does  not  extend  so  far.  Quensel 
had  brought  his  Winchester,  and  soon  got  a  chance  to 
shoot  a  fine  buck.    Wild  goats  were  numerous  here. 

The  most  common  tree  here  is  a  kind  of  myrtle  ;  it 
only  grows  on  this  island,  and  here  takes  the  place  of 
the  myrtle  of  Masatierra.  We  thus  found  the  same 
state  of  things  as  Darwin  so  splendidly  described  on 
the  Galapagos  Islands.    The  vegetation  above  the  forest 


View  kkom  top  of  Masakukra,  showinc  canyons. 


Robinson's  Gkotto. 


ROBINSON  CRUSOE'S  ISLAND  145 

is  of  a  very  remarkable  appearance — ferns  and  more     J 
ferns  everywhere,  groves  of  fern-trees,  and  a  carpet  of 
smaller  species. 

We  had  crossed  the  island  and  stood  above  the  preci- 
pice. In  the  most  breakneck  places  goats  climb  with 
ease,  leaving  man  behind.  Below  our  feet  is  a  bank  of 
clouds  hiding  the  sea  ;  only  the  roar  from  the  breakers 
reaches  us.  Suddenly  the  veil  is  torn  asunder  by  a  puff 
of  wind,  and  then,  right  below — the  depth  of  the  abyss  is 
4000  feet — lies  the  ocean.  Through  the  rents  in  the 
clouds  we  can  see  the  white  foam  dancing  in  across 
a  sandbank,  where  some  wreckage  shows  the  fate  of  a 
vessel  that  came  too  close.  It  is  a  striking  sight  of 
Nature's  greatness,  that  stirs  the  soul  and  is  engraved 
for  ever  in  the  memory.  Time  and  place  are  forgotten ; 
but  the  sun  sinks  and  it  becomes  necessary  to  return 
to  our  ship. 

As  the  weather  continued  good  the  Casma  could  stop 
without  risk — the  place  is  open  to  all  winds — and  I 
spent  the  next  day  making  excursions  in  two  of  the 
gorges,  and  Quensel  walked  round  the  island  to  the 
west  coast.  The  valleys  are  truly  most  remarkable,  cut 
deep  down  300  to  600  feet,  and  perhaps  not  more  than 
30  to  50  feet  broad  in  the  inner  part,  with  sheer 
walls,  sometimes  nearly  parallel.  One  walks  in  a 
natural  alley,  high  above  is  a  strip  of  the  sky,  and  the 
subdued  light  illuminates  the  green  carpet  on  the  rocky 
walls.  Here  and  there  a  tree  is  rooted  in  a  cleft,  but 
unfortunately  frustrates  every  attempt  to  get  a  speci- 
men ;  large  rosettes  of  light  green  pangue  gleam  on  the 
narrow  shelves  ;  the  stream,  nearly  filling  up  the  bottom 

K 


146  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

of  the  valley,  chatters  merrily,  now  and  then  forming 
a  miniature  waterfall.  Yesterday  we  saw  the  grand, 
to-day  the  pretty  side  of  Masafuera  scenery.  Over  the 
desolate  expanse  eagles  soar  looking  for  prey  ;  down 
here  the  hmnming-birds  shoot  from  flower  to  flower, 
flashing  with  metallic  splendour  as  they  twist  and  turn. 
Calmness  and  peace  reign  ;  not  a  breath  of  wind  stirs 
the  elegant  runners  of  the  ferns. 

The  next  morning  we  were  back  in  Cumberland  Bay 
and  made  some  short  excursions  ;  unfortunately  we 
could  not  stop  longer,  but  had  to  go  back  to  Valparaiso. 
The  voyage  across  causes  much  apprehension,  as  one 
can  get  a  heavy  sea  broadside  on,  but  we  did  not  feel 
much  of  it.  On  August  31  we  were  back  again  after  a 
most  interesting  trip,  which  also  gave  some  very  good 
results — among  other  things  I  discovered  some  plants 
on  the  top  of  Masafuera  well  known  in  the  south  of 
Chile,  but  not  to  be  expected  out  here. 

The  Spanish  navigator  Juan  Fernandez  discovered 
the  islands  in  1563,  and  was  their  first  colonist.  As  we 
have  seen,  it  was  not  long  before  ships  used  to  call  for 
sandal-wood,  and  in  the  seventeenth  century  Spain 
erected  a  small  fortress  in  order  to  shut  out  the  numerous 
English  buccaneers  who  had  their  headquarters  in 
Cumberland  Bay.  An  earthquake  in  1751  brought  the 
fort  and  the  small  town  also  built  there  to  an  untimely 
end.  But  the  ruins  are  still  left.  Later  the  island 
was  used  as  a  penal  settlement ;  near  the  harbour  are 
some  caverns  where  the  prisoners  lived.  In  our  times 
the  islands  were  opened  to  colonization.  OnMasatierra 
a  number  of  families  lived,  and  a  fishing  company  had 
stations  on  both  islands.    Sheep,  cattle,  and  horses 


ROBINSON  CRUSOE'S  ISLAND  147 

ran  about,  greatly  to  the  damage  of  the  vegetation. 
From  au  agricultural  point  of  view  Masafuera — and 
perhaps  also  Masatierra — is  of  no  importance.  For  the 
development  of  Chile  it  is  not  of  the  slightest  value 
that  this  strip  of  land  should  be  cultivated.  The  fish- 
ing industry  is  of  much  greater  account,  especially  the 
catching  of  lobsters.  The  giant  Juan  Fernandez  lobster 
{Palinurus  frontalis),  sometimes  from  2  to  3  feet  long, 
does  not  live  on  the  main  coast  of  Chile,  but  is  the  more 
appreciated  there.  On  the  occasion  of  our  visit  it  was 
worth  sixty  cents  when  delivered  by  the  fishermen  to 
the  company;  their  agents  get  three  pesos  in  Valparaiso, 
and  when  it  reached  the  table  of  the  big  restaurants  it 
fetched  ten  or  even  fifteen  pesos  for  big  specimens 
(at  that  time  one  peso  was  about  eightpence).  I  dare- 
say the  fishing  was  not  managed  in  a  satisfactory  way 
or  it  would  have  been  a  profitable  industry  ;  we  were  told 
that  the  company  was  about  to  abandon  the  place. 
Because  of  the  quite  unnecessary  colonization  the  future 
of  Masatierra,  as  seen  from  a  scientific  point  of  view, 
looks  very  dark.  But  some  time  ago  a  still  greater 
danger  threatened  Masafuera.  During  our  visit  to 
Chile  the  Government  made  preparations  to  establish 
another  penal  settlement  on  that  island.  An  ofiicial 
commission  had  been  sent  there,  looked  at  the  place, 
and  reported  it  as  very  fit  for  the  purpose.  Among  the 
various  descriptions  of  labour  to  be  imposed  on  the 
prisoners  forest-cutting  was  mentioned — the  practically 
worthless,  scientifically  irreplaceable  endemic  trees 
would  be  exterminated  in  the  most  brutal  manner  ! 
The  least  one  can  demand,  now  that  the  prison  is 
an  accomplished  fact,  is   that  the  members  of   that 


148  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

commission  should  spend  the  rest  of  their  lives  on  the 
island.    Their  sin  is  great  enough  to  justify  this. 

It  is  evident  that  the  preservation  of  natural  beauty 
will  appear  a  strange  idea  to  a  people  like  the  Chileans, 
who  first  of  all  must  think  of  the  material  development 
of  their  country,  of  the  education  of  the  people,  and 
other  important  questions  ;  they  have  not  been  able 
yet  to  give  science  the  high  place  it  occupies  in  the 
countries  of  the  Old  World.  But  in  this  case  there  is 
no  time  to  lose.  The  Juan  Fernandez  Islands  are  of 
international  interest ;  their  destruction  means  irrepar- 
able loss  to  the  whole  realm  of  science.  The  order 
of  the  day  ought  to  be  :  Away  with  the  colonists  !  I 
can  hardly  imagine  a  more  ideal  place  for  a  biological 
station  than  this — the  queen  of  an  ocean.  And  at  the 
same  time  as  plants  and  animals  were  being  protected 
a  profitable  fishing  industry  could  be  established, 
many  times  surpassing  in  value  agriculture  or  cattle- 
breeding.  Several  times  I  have  pointed  out  these 
facts  to  the  great  public,  but  all  in  vain.  I  daresay 
a  true  Chilean  does  not  know  what  love  of  Nature 
means.  Perhaps  he  cannot  help  it,  he  was  born  like 
that ;  nevertheless  it  is  a  pity. 

Since  this  was  written  I  have  had  news  from  Chile  that 
the  penal  settlement  has  not  turned  out  very  well  and 
that  the  place  is  to  be  abandoned.  But  do  not  believe 
that  the  island  will  be  left  alone.  There  is  another 
scheme  :  they  are  thinking  of  breeding  sheep  and  cattle 
for  the  wants  of  the  army — a  most  noble  pasturage  they 
will  get.  Is  it  possible  ?  After  what  I  have  seen,  any- 
thing is  possible. 


CHAPTER  X 

ACROSS  THE  ANDES  INTO  ARGENTINA 

Before  we  undertook  the  journey  to  the  Patagonian 
Channels  we  had  resolved  to  move  oiu*  field  of  work 
to  a  more  northerly  latitude  during  the  rest  of  the 
winter,  and  I  have  already  described  the  excursions 
made  between  July  and  September  1908.  Naturally 
we  had  also  discussed  how  we  were  to  return  south 
again,  and  the  idea  of  proceeding  overland — i.e.,  going 
on  horseback  from  Lake  Nahuelhuapi  to  Punta  Arenas — 
had  also  suggested  itself.  We  did  not  conceal  from  our- 
selves that  it  would  be  a  risky  enterprise.  When  we 
left  Sweden  we  were  by  no  means  prepared  for  such  an 
eventuahty,  and  therefore  had  not  even  studied  what  had 
been  written  describing  that  part  of  the  country.  This 
lack  could  in  part  be  supplied,  but  not  completely,  and 
we  did  not  miss  any  chance  of  getting  information  about 
Patagonia  from  persons  who  had  personal  experience. 
As  to  the  equipment  suitable,  the  way  of  arranging  a 
caravan,  and  the  technical  side  of  the  matter,  Quensel 
had  gained  very  useful  experience  from  his  strenuous 
summer  round  Payne  and  Lake  Argentino.  The 
financial  difficulty  was  the  worst  to  get  over.  We  were 
told  we  could  not  start  with  less  than  fifty  horses — and 
I  daresay  this  was  no  exaggeration  from  a  South 
American  point  of  view.    But  we  could  not  dream  of 

149 


150  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

any  such  number;  our  money  would  not  permit  of 
our  buying  more  than  ten  or  twelve  altogether.  Any- 
how, we  made  up  our  minds  to  risk  it,  hoping  that  by 
marching  at  moderate  speed  and  resting  the  horses 
every  third  or  fourth  day  we  should  manage  with  the 
smaller  number.  By  the  kindness  of  the  Argentine 
and  Chilean  Governments,  we  had  received  complete , 
sets  of  the  maps  of  the  Boundary  Commission,  and  had 
had  ample  time  to  study  them  in  all  details.  Unlike 
our  predecessors,  we  regarded  guides  as  unnecessary; 
with  a  map  and  a  good  compass  one  should  certainly 
be  able  to  get  along  everywhere,  letting  common  sense 
determine  the  details  of  the  march.  In  general,  fixed, 
scientific  ideas  must  lead  us,  and  the  usefulness  of 
vaqueanos,  guides,  who  can  never  read  a  map,  would 
most  probably  turn  out  to  be  illusory.  On  the  other 
hand  it  was  necessary  to  get  hold  of  a  good  and  strong 
all-round  man  to  accompany  us  the  whole  time,  as  we 
did  not  want  always  to  be  tied  by  all  the  regular  daily 
routine  work.  It  is  not  easy  here  to  light  upon  reliable 
people  for  such  a  purpose,  and  one  ought  not  to  take 
anybody  into  one's  service  without  strong  recommenda- 
tions from  trustworthy  persons.  "When  we  left  Punta 
Arenas  we  had  told  Pagels  that  we  should  perhaps 
send  for  him  later  on,  and  we  never  had  cause  to  regret 
that  at  last  we  resolved  to  do  so.  I  telegraphed  to  him 
to  join  our  party  in  Puerto  Montt  or  at  Nahuelhuapi, 
and  he  declared  himself  willing  to  come. 

Briefly  our  plan  ran  as  follows:  We  were  to  cross  the 
Perez- Eosales  pass  to  Nahuelhuapi,  and  there  com- 
plete our  equipment,  buy  horses,  &c.     Our  way  at  first 


I  1] 


ACROSS  THE  ANDES  INTO  ARGENTINA   151 

would  lead  along  the  mountain  across  the  high  pampas, 
then  run  between  the  main  range  and  the  mesetas, 
across  the  transandine  valleys  and  close  to  the  east 
end  of  the  large  lakes ;  on  some  of  them  boat  excursions 
would  be  undertaken.  Everywhere  we  would  avail 
ourselves  of  all  possible  chances  of  penetrating  westward 
into  the  mountains.  Our  scientific  purpose  was  to  gain 
a  series  of  geological  and  phytogeographical  observations 
along  the  mountains,  as  well  as  on  some  sections  across 
them  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Before  I  invite  the  reader 
to  follow  us  across  the  frontier  to  the  neighbouring 
republic,  I  shall  make  some  few  remarks  on  the  more 
important  surveys  made  in  the  interior  of  Patagonia. 

The  shipwreck  of  Camarga  in  the  Magellan  Straits 
in  1540,  as  well  as  the  unhappy  result  of  Sarmiento's 
colonizing  enterprise  in  1584,  gave  birth  to  all  sorts 
of  stories.  It  was  said  that  survivors  of  these  disasters 
had  wandered  into  the  interior  of  Patagonia,  where 
they  had  found  immense  treasures  and  established 
a  settlement,  which  by-and-by  had  developed  into  a 
floiu-ishing  city,  mentioned  in  the  tales  as  "  la  Ciudad 
de  los  Cesares,"  the  Town  of  the  Emperors.  No  grounds 
whatever  for  such  a  supposition  existed,  but  that,  of 
course,  did  not  hinder  the  place  from  becoming  the  chief 
attraction  for  a  large  number  of  expeditions,  which 
tried  to  penetrate  into  the  mysteries  of  Patagonia,  and 
succeeded  in  doing  so  during  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries.  Now  and  again  a  rumour  cropped 
up  of  the  enchanted  city,  where  the  natives  had  pro- 
hibited the  white  men  from  going  back  to  their  own 
countries,  and  even  to-day  there  are  ignorant  people 


152  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

who  still  believe  it.  I  myself  have  met  one  fellow  who 
was  sure  of  the  existence  of  such  a  city — and  he  was 
an  educated  man. 

In  1621  Captain  Flores  de  Leon  started  with  an 
expedition  from  Calbuco  (near  Port  Montt).  He 
discovered  the  Perez- Eosales  pass  and  reached  Nahuel- 
huapi,  where  he  encountered  numerous  savage  Indians. 
And  probably  he  is  not  the  only  one  who  made  that 
journey  at  so  early  a  date.  Soon  the  Jesuit  mission 
on  Chiloe  tried  to  effect  communication  with  the  east 
side  of  the  Cordillera,  and  on  one  of  his  journeys  Father 
Mascardi  founded  a  station  on  the  shore  of  Nahuelhuapi 
in  1670.  Under  changing  fortunes  it  existed  until  1717, 
when  the  Puelche  Indians  completely  destroyed  it. 
hN  Investigations  now  ceased  for  a  time,  but  at  the  end 
of  the  eighteenth  century  we  find  new  brave  pioneers 
setting  out,  and  in  the  south  the  first  expedition  pene- 
trated far  inland.  Antonio  de  Viedma  in  1782  marched 
from  San  JuHan,  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  across  the  pampas 
to  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  where  he  discovered  the 
big  lake  now  named  after  him.  We  must  skip  some 
years  to  find  any  dates  worthy  of  mention  in  this  brief 
summary.  The  glorious  expeditions  of  the  Adventure 
and  the  Beagle,  well  known  to  all  EngHsh  readers, 
opened  a  new  era  of  modern  scientific  investigations, 
and  Captain  Fitzroy,  accompanied  by  Charles  Darwin, 
^n  1834  pulled  up  the  Santa  Cruz  river.  From  the  point 
at  which  they  were  forced  to  return  they  beheld  the 
depression  where  Lake  Argentino  is  situated;  but  not 
until  1867  was  this  big  lake  discovered  by  the  English 
engineer  H.  Gardiner. 


ACROSS  THE  ANDES  INTO  ARGENTINA    153 

R.  A.  Philippi,  C.  Fonck,  and  others  in  the  fifties 
started  to  explore  the  regions  of  Llanquihiie  and 
Nahuelhuapi,  and  in  1862  WilHam  Cox,  an  ancestor 
of  the  Swedo-Chilean  family  Schonmeyr,  made  a  famous 
journey  to  Nahuelhuapi  and  went  down  the  rapids  of 
Rio  Limay,  till  he  got  shipwrecked  and  was  made 
prisoner  by  the  Indians.  We  owe  him  a  debt  of 
gratitude  for  a  great  deal  of  information  about  the 
natives.  Later  Captain  G.  Musters  made  prolonged 
joiu'neys  through  the  land  of  the  Tehuelches  and 
rescued  the  knowledge  of  their  habits  and  customs 
from  oblivion.  However,  large  "  white  patches  "  still 
remained  along  the  foot  of  the  Cordilleras. 

The  man  who  has  gained  the  greatest  merit  for  their 
exploration  is  Dr.  F.  P.  Moreno,  late  director  of  the 
museum  in  La  Plata.  In  my  opinion  his  travels  well 
match  most  of  those  made  in  our  days,  and  if  his  name 
is  not  so  well  known  in  Europe  the  fault  is  ours,  not  his. 
In  the  years  1875  to  1880  he  crossed  Patagonia  in  all 
directions,  often  amidst  great  dangers ;  more  than  once 
he  nearly  lost  his  life.  He  and  his  companions  were  the 
first  to  reach  Nahuelhuapi  from  the  east ;  together  with 
Moyano  he  discovered  Rio  de  la  Leona,  the  outlet  of 
Lago  Viedma  in  Lago  Argentine,  and  also  the  great 
Lake  San  Martin.  Later  he  became  the  leading  spirit 
of  the  Argentine  Boundary  Commission,  when  a  piece 
of  geographical  work  almost  without  parallel  was 
performed.  In  1880  Moyano  made  an  expedition 
from  Santa  Cruz  along  the  valley  of  Rio  Chico,  and 
thence  to  the  north,  and  he  was  the  first  white 
man  who    beheld   the   vast   surface   of  Lake  Buenos 


154  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

Aires.     Another   prominent   Argentine    explorer    was 
E.  Lista. 

Long  before  these  important  events,  Argentina  as  well 
as  Chile  had  begun  to  think  of  expansion,  Argentina 
towards   Patagonia,    the   cramped   Chile   through   the 
transandine  valleys  out  over  the  east  slopes  of  the 
mountains.     Thus  a  boundary  dispute  arose,  carried  on 
with  great  heat  by  both  parties.     It  was  deemed  to  have 
been  brought  to  an  end  by  the  treaty  of  1881,  which 
settled  that  the  Cordillera  should  constitute  the  boundary, 
and  thus  the  ground  for  dispute  seemed  to  be  removed. 
Commissions  were  established  to  regulate  the  matter, 
but  soon  all  negotiations  were  broken  off ;   a  new  con- 
troversy  had   arisen.     It    was    found   that   for    long 
distances  the  water-parting  did  not  coincide  with  the 
highest  mountain- ridges,  but  lay  east  of  it,  and  the 
Chileans   considered  that   the   water- divide   ought   to 
be  the  frontier,  the  Argentines  that  only  the  highest 
peaks  and  crests  would  make  a  just  and  natural  boun- 
dary.    The  question  was  of  great  importance,  as  the 
dispute  involved  the  fertile  subandine  valleys,  which 
with  every  reason  were  considered  a  good  field  for  future 
colonization.     However,  matters  could  not  be  settled 
as  long  as  the  region  was  not  mapped,  and  in  the  nineties 
a  fine  piece  of  work  was  accomplished,  in  which  several 
Scandinavians  also  took  part  as  cartographers.     The 
Argentine  exploration  resulted  in  a  large  work,  accom- 
panied by  splendid  photographs  and  numerous  maps. 
We    could   see   now  how  much   was    still  left  to  be 
discovered:    large    lake-basins,    such    as   Fontana-La 
Plata,  Belgrano-Azara-Nansen,  Pueyrredon  (Cochrane)- 


ACEOSS  THE  ANDES  INTO  ARGENTINA    155 

Posadas,  the  last  one  as  late  as  in  1898.  Sometimes 
naturalists  also  accompanied  the  expeditions.  From 
the  Chilean  side  efforts  were  made  to  start  from  the  fiords 
on  the  Pacific  coast  and  penetrate  up  the  rivers  through 
the  mountains  to  the  sources — enterprises  associated 
with  tremendous  difficulties.  Dr.  Stefien,  the  well- 
known  geographer,  surveyed  the  river  systems  of 
Puelo-Manso,  Palena-Carrenleufu,  Cisnes,  Aysen  and 
Baker,  Dr.  Kriiger  those  of  Renihue  and  the  numerous 
lakes  east  of  it,  Yelcho-Futaleufu  and  Corcovado. 
The  data  having  been  gathered,  the  question  was 
submitted  to  the  award  of  King  Edward  VII.,  in  order 
to  prevent  a  terrible  war.  The  King  sent  a  commission 
under  the  command  of  Colonel  Sir  Thomas  Holdich, 
and  in  November  1902  the  decision  was  pubHshed 
and  the  boundary  was  settled.  After  this  combined 
work  was  undertaken  to  erect  the  marks,  new  geo- 
graphical results  being  gained.  The  Chilean  Govern- 
ment pubhshed  a  work  in  several  parts  with  numerous 
maps,  and  the  keystone  was  laid  in  1908,  when  the 
Argentine  description  of  the  demarcations  appeared. 

Private  expeditions  had  also  operated  in  Patagonia 
during  this  time.  Dr.  Hatcher  mth  the  Princeton 
University  Expedition  occupied  himself  in  the  interior 
of  South  Patagonia,  discovered  Rio  Mayer,  the  outlet 
of  the  Belgrano  system,  and  did  important  geological 
work.  The  geologists  Hauthal  and  Roth  made  extensive 
siu:veys,  the  former  principally  in  the  southernmost  part 
of  the  country,  also  visited  by  the  Swedish  expedition 
of  1896-97.  In  1903  Mr.  A.  TheslefT,  a  Finnish  gentle- 
man, crossed  Patagonia  in  order  to  look  for  land  fit 


156  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

for  cultivation;  with  him  went  the  Swedish  botanist 
P.  Dusen,  who  brought  home  large  collections  from  the 
region  between  Santa  Cruz  and  the  lakes  San  Martin 
and  Viedma.  Many  smaller  journeys  are  worthy  of 
notice,  but  I  must  confine  myself  to  those  already 
mentioned.  There  was  still,  however,  a  vast  field  for 
scientific  work. 

The  winter  was  coming  to  an  end.  In  the  forests 
round  Reloncavi  the  trees  opened  their  flower-buds; 
in  Puerto  Montt  we  enjoyed  the  first  real  spring  days. 
We  were  now  more  busy  than  ever,  the  question  being 
to  choose  a  complete  but  light  equipment,  and  to  pack 
the  rest  and  the  winter  collections  and  send  all  together 
to  Punta  Arenas.  Our  modest  resources  were  severely 
strained  buying  horse- gear,  clothes,  and  a  lot  of  small 
things. 

The  last  nails  were  driven  into  the  boxes,  which  were 
sent  down  to  a  shed  to  wait  for  the  next  steamer,  and  with 
a  ridiculously  small  amount  of  luggage  we  started  for 
Puerto  Varas  at  the  Lago  Llanquihue  on  October  6. 
One  is  able  to  drive  there  very  comfortably,  for  we  had 
not  yet  said  good-bye  to  civilization,  and  were  ordinary 
passengers.  A  German- Chilean  company,  the  leaders 
being  Germans,  called  Compania  comercial  y  ganadera 
Chile- Argentina,  owns  land  on  both  sides  of  the  moun- 
lains,  and  has  estabhshed  regular  traffic  between  Port 
Montt  and  Bariloche  at  Nahuelhuapi.  A  route  Uke 
this  in  Europe  would  certainly  be  crowded  with  tourists, 
and  prove  a  real  gold-mine.  But  the  everyday  Chilean 
has  not  got  his  eyes  open  to  the  beauty  of  his  country ; 
seldom  does  he  travel  for  pleasure  in  South  America.   And 


ACKOSS  THE  ANDES  INTO  ARGENTINA  157 
when  a  foreigner  has  his  hoHdays  he  goes  to  Europe, 
where  he  will  hardly  find  anything  so  magnificent  as 
the  journey  from  Chile  to  Argentina  across  the  Perez- 
Rosales  pass. 

In  the  evening  our  carriage  stopped  in  front  of 
the  Hotel  Llanquihue  in  Puerto  Varas.  On  the  road 
we  had  passed  the  half- completed  railway  joining  Puerto 
Montt  to  the  town  of  Osorno,  and  thus  with  the  longitu- 
dinal main  trunk.  There  is  peace  and  comfort  in  that  small 
summer  place,  Puerto  Varas,  where  numerous  famihes 
spend  the  favourable  season  on  the  shores  of  the  large 
lake.  We  have  good  luck,  the  sun  rises  on  a  splendid 
day,  and  the  small  steamer  takes  us  over  a  lake  like  a 
mirror,  between  the  two  famous  giant  volcanoes  Osorno 
and  Calbuco,  which  raise  their  shining  white  heads 
one  on  each  side  of  the  east  end  of  Llanquihue.  What 
a  contrast  to  the  landscape  farther  west,  with  pastures 
and  cultivated  fields  between  the  grooves !  German 
colonists  have  changed  the  province  of  Llanquihue  into 
a  land  literally  flowing  with  milk  and  honey,  for  butter 
and  honey  are  valuable  articles  of  export.  The 
honey  has  a  rather  peculiar  taste,  but  the  bees  have  to 
collect  it  from  plants  very  different  from  those  we  can 
offer  them. 

From  an  aesthetic  point  of  view  Osorno  is  an  ideal 
volcano.  The  cone,  7403  feet  high,  is  very  regular, 
and  covered  with  a  cap  of  eternal  snow.  It  is  a  long 
time  since  it  showed  any  signs  of  life — the  last  eruption 
must  be  that  described  in  his  usual  fascinating  manner 
by  Darwin,  who  was  lucky  enough  to  witness  it.  Calbuco 
is  more  than  1600  feet  lower,  and  has  not  the  same 


158  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

regular  shape,  but  is  still  active.  With  the  glasses  we 
could  see  tiny  puffs  of  white  smoke  between  the  snow- 
drifts on  the  jagged  crest;  old  Vulcan  still  has  one  of 
his  forges  there,  and  one  day  or  other  he  will  blow  his 
biggest  bellows  again!  Then  the  industrious  people 
will  tremble;  mud- streams  will  again  drench  their 
fields,  again  the  cattle  will  wade  in  the  burning  hot 
ashes  with  hanging  tongues — as  some  years  ago,  when 
the  sky  became  dark  far  away  in  Ancud  in  the  middle  of 
the  day. 

We  land  at  the  foot  of  Osorno.  One  of  the  old  lava 
streams  comes  down  there,  a  picture  of  devastation, 
where  vegetation  still  struggles  to  give  some  life  to  the 
stony  desert.  Horses  are  ready,  we  mount  and  gallop 
across  the  neck  of  land  to  the  next  lake,  Todos  los  Santos, 
and  go  on  board  a  small  steam-launch.  Calbuco  now 
lies  behind.  This  lake  has  been  called  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  in  the  world.  Perhaps  this  is  an  exaggeration 
— I  have  not  seen  enough  to  judge — but  it  is  certainly 
magnificent.  Over  its  mountains,  virgin  forests,  and 
dark  blue  water  there  is  a  peculiar  charm;  it  is  an 
enchanted  lake  if  there  be  one  in  this  world.  What 
a  play  of  light  and  shadow  on  its  sm'face,  what  colours 
when  the  sun  is  painting  the  peaks  with  gold  and 
crimson,  throwing  longer  and  longer  shadows  over  the 
calm  water!  Slowly  the  rosy  gleam  fades  away: 
last  of  all  Osorno  is  seen  glomng,  flashing  a  while  in 
the  last  beams,  and  then  hes  blue- white  and  cold.  Night 
has  come,  forest  and  water  melt  together  in  the  shadow 
of  the  mountains,  but  on  the  peaks  the  moon  casts  its 
light.    Osorno  is  wonderful  in  its  silver  cap.    As  we 


Puerto  Montt. 


Kkadv  to  Start. 


ACROSS  THE  ANDES  INTO  ARGENTINA    159 

advance  new,  fantastic  peaks  appear ;  we  turn  with  the 
lake,  catch  a  glimpse  of  Tronador,  and  land  in  Peulla. 
*  •  The  day  had  filled  our  minds  with  delight,  but  the  body 
had  been  neglected,  and  we  were  glad  to  see  a  laid  table 
again,  not  having  had  anything  since  the  early  breakfast. 
The  manager  of  the  company  in  Peulla,  Mr.  Roth, 
proved  of  great  help  in  reaHsing  our  plans.  The  next 
day  he  arranged  an  excursion  to  Tronador,  the  Thun- 
derer, a  mountain  11,382  feet  high,  partly  covered  by 
five  glaciers,  making  a  noise  that  gave  its  name  to  the 
mountain.  With  good  horses  we  rode  through  the 
beautiful  forest  to  Casa  Pangue,  at  the  foot  of  the  Andes, 
where  one  makes  the  ascent  to  the  pass.  Here  mules 
more  suited  to  the  ground  were  waiting.  Along  the 
stony  bed  of  a  glacier  stream  we  slowly  approached  a 
large  glacier,  coming  down  right  into  the  forest — a 
remarkable  sight.  The  morning  had  been  very  fine, 
but  we  knew  that  rain  could  not  be  far  off,  and  just  as 
we  had  tied  up  the  animals  in  the  dwarf  forest  the  first 
drops  came,  followed  by  a  proper  Chilean  storm.  We 
climbed  across  the  huge  moraines  on  to  the  ice-border 
itself,  w^hich  is  somewhat  curious.  All  the  lower  part 
is  covered  by  sand  and  gravel,  and  the  glacier  advances 
so  very  slowly  that  vegetation  has  time  to  take  possession 
of  it.  There  are  small  groves  of  dwarf  trees,  some 
getting  not  less  than  twenty  or  thirty  years  old  before 
they  are  carried  down  to  destruction.  One  may  walk 
in  the  soft  carpet  of  mosses  and  scrub  without  suspecting 
anything;  suddenly  a  crack  opens,  showing  the  sheer 
ice,  blue  and  cold.  This  is  not  unique,  but  I  never  met 
with  anything    hke  it  before.      By-and-by  the  rain, 


160  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

which  increased  to  a  veritable  deluge,  drove  us  from 
the  place.  The  horsemen  who  arrived  in  Casa  Pangue 
that  night  were  in  rather  a  miserable  condition.  There 
was  Hterally  not  a  dry  thread  on  our  bodies.  We  made 
a  fire,  undressed,  and  changed  the  place  into  a  fine 
exhibition  of  dripping  rags.  Wrapped  in  blankets, 
we  whiled  away  the  time  before  nightfall  with  a  game 
of  cards,  and  our  dark- eyed  hostess  made  us  a  nice 
cazuela.  The  next  morning  we  returned  to  Peulla, 
and  made  excursions  round  it.  The  forests  here  still 
bear  a  marked  resemblance  to  those  on  Chiloe.  On 
October  10  we  rode  to  Casa  Pangue  and  got  mules 
for  the  march  across  the  pass,  which  is  only  3300  feet 
high.  It  had  been  a  favourable  winter,  and  the  road, 
climbing  zigzag  up  the  steep,  forest- clad  slope,  seemed 
good  enough  on  horseback.  The  traffic  with  the  bullock- 
carts  had  not  been  opened  yet.  The  difference  in  vege- 
tation attracted  our  attention;  the  numerous  leaf- 
trees  became  fewer,  needle- trees  more  and  more 
frequent.  In  the  pass  extensive  snowdrifts  were  still 
left.  For  a  short  distance  we  rode  on  level  ground, 
passed  the  boundary  mark,  and  came  down  into  the 
deep  grave  where  Laguna  Fria  is  situated.  Its  icy 
green  glacier  water  looks  cold  indeed,  and  it  needs 
sunshine  and  fine  weather  if  the  shores,  at  the  foot  of 
perpendicular  cliffs,  many  hundred  yards  high,  are 
not  to  produce  a  gloomy  or  even  terrifying  impression. 
We  pulled  across  and  walked  over  the  isthmus  separating 
Laguna  Fria  and  Nahuelhuapi,  following  a  road  in  the 
forest  down  to  Puerto  Blest.  One  need  not  walk  on  foot ; 
a  car  drawn  by  a  bullock  and  running  on  wooden  rails 


ACROSS  THE  ANDES  INTO  ARGENTINA    161 

brings  luggage  and  passengers  down  to  the  "  hotel." 
How  easily  we  had  reached  the  famous  lake  in  com- 
parison with  the  pioneers  who  risked  their  lives  only  to 
behold  its  blue  water!  It  has  been  compared  with  the 
lakes  in  the  Alps,  but  who  knows  if  Nahuelhuapi  does 
not  bear  away  the  palm  ?  It  has  so  many  different 
aspects  :  far  to  the  west  it  washes  the  foot  of  the 
Andes,  in  narrow  inlets  reflecting  the  dark  forests  of 
alerce  and  cedro,  thickly  wooded  isles  making  the 
scenery  more  varied ;  in  the  east  it  opens  into  the 
endless  widths  of  the  pampas,  the  mountains  are"  left 
behind,  the  forests  have  dissolved  into  groves  and 
patches. 

In  Puerto  Blest  we  counted  on  getting  one  day  for 
excursions,  and  on  the  next  we  expected  the  steamer 
fromBariloche.  It  had ,  however,  started  to  blow  hard, 
and  no  steamer  came,  but  a  storm,  first  with  rain  and  then 
with  snow  and  cold;  winter  made  its  expiring  efforts, 
the  shores  were  dressed  in  white,  all  the  forest  lay  pow- 
dered with  snow.  We  were  shut  in  in  a  miserable  room, 
where  a  red-hot  stove  made  life  almost  insupportable. 
We  could  not  complain,  however,  for  in  our  bedroom 
the  thermometer  refused  to  rise  above  freezing-point ; 
thus  we  got  a  tolerable  daily  average  !  One  day  passed  ; 
two,  three,  during  which  the  gale  raged  with  unabated 
strength,  making  the  house  tremble  at  each  gust. 
Finally  on  the  15th  the  sun  showed  its  glorious  face  again. 
There  was  still  a  good  breeze,  but  as  it  was  an  ordinary 
boat- day  we  could  be  sure  that  every  effort  would  be 
made  to  fetch  us.  In  the  afternoon  the  small  steamer 
arrived    after    a   rough    voyage.      The    day    had   yet 


162  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

another  surprise  in  store  for  us:  when  the  bullock- 
cart  from  Laguna  Fria  came  rolHng  down  the  slope 
Pagels  was  enthroned  on  the  top  of  the  load,  and  after 
him  came  our  old  dog  Prince  lumbering  along.  An 
extra  mail- day  brought  letters  and  papers  from  Punta 
Arenas.  Now  all  of  us  were  assembled,  Pagels  had 
performed  the  commissions  we  had  given  him  with 
exactitude,  and  we  could  go  to  bed  and  sleep  a  couple 
of  hours — not  more,  for  long  before  the  sun  gilded  the 
surface  of  Nahuelhuapi  we  slipped  out  of  the  bosom 
of  the  Cordillera,  to  start  a  new  kind  of  Hfe,  and  for  the 
future  march  with  this  gigantic  fold  of  the  earth's 
crust  to  the  west,  whither  we  had  been  used  to  look  out 
over  the  endless  ocean.  The  small  town,  or  rather 
village,  Bariloche,  was  the  destination  of  our  steamer, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  starting-point  for  our  long  ride. 
We  tried  to  make  ourselves  comfortable  in  the  small, 
dirty  inn,  and  began  our  preparations  without  delay. 
Pagels  occupied  himself  making  saddle-  and  provision- 
bags,  while  we  had  some  excursions  to  make. 

Bariloche  is  situated  on  the  edge  of  the  forest  region. 
West  of  it  are  big  cedar- forests  {Libocedrus  chilensis), 
in  the  east  a  yellowish  steppe.  Several  mountains 
exhibiting  interesting  geological  features  were  easy  to 
reach  from  there,  and  as  we  did  not  want  to  encumber 
our  caravan  with  heavy  collections  at  the  very  start, 
Quensel  and  Halle  made  an  excursion  south  for  a  couple 
of  days.  I  myself  went  round  the  lake,  ferried  across 
Eio  Limay,  and  stayed  two  days  with  an  American 
gentleman,  Mr.  Jones.  He  has  a  big  cattle-ranch,  with 
a  stock^of  several  thousand  head,  his  special  business 


A 


ACROSS  THE  ANDES  INTO  ARGENTINA    163 

being  to  breed  mules,  which  fetch  double  the  price  of 
an  ordinary  horse.  We  had  already  solved  our  most 
important  question,  the  horse  problem,  and  were  the 
happy  owners  of  a  small  tr op  ilia  of  ten  animals  and 
a  mare,  the  yegua  madrina,  without  whom  no  troop 
keeps  together.  They  were  rather  small,  and  looked 
like  skeletons  after  the  winter.  Eight  of  them  were 
saddle-horses;  each  of  us  got  two  and  the  two  others 
were  to  carry  our  baggage.  Generally  the  horses 
in  Patagonia  are  not  shod,  but  as  we  were  going  to 
spend  most  of  the  time  in  the  mountains  we  were 
forced  to  shoe  them.  Horses  are  cheap  in  Patagonia  ; 
in  the  spring  prices  seem  to  be  higher,  and  we  paid 
sixty  dollars  each — about  £5  6s. 

Our  equipment  was  very  simple  indeed.  We  had  no 
suits  other  than  those  we  wore,  and  they  were  already 
old  and  shabby.  The  expedition  also  took  one  common 
pair  of  reserve  trousers.  Of  underwear  each  of  us  had 
two  shifts,  but  of  socks  we  had  a  more  ample  supply. 
Most  of  the  clothes,  some  necessary  handbooks,  perish- 
able provisions,  ammunition,  a  number  of  small,  strong 
bottles  of  formahne  or  spirits,  some  instruments  such 
as  aneroids,  thermometers,  compasses,  &c.,  films  for 
the  camera,  a  SJ  by  4f  ins.  Kodak,  notebooks, 
journals,  and  other  small  things  were  packed  in  two 
small  waterproof  EngHsh  leather  boxes,  specially  con- 
structed to  be  attached  to  a  pack-saddle.  We  only 
carried  one  rifle,  a  Winchester  of  small  caUbre.  We  had 
had  serious  intentions  of  bringing  also  a  shot-gun,  but 
it  disappeared  in  one  of  our  numerous  Sittings  before 
we  reached   our  starting-point — firearms   are    always 


164 


THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 


welcome  in  Patagonia,  and  I  am  pretty  sure  it  is  in  use 
somewhere.  Overcoats  or  cloaks  we  had  none,  but  tied 
a  poncho  behind  the  saddle.  Neither  did  we  use 
riding-boots,  only  leggings  or  puttees — certainly  to  be 
preferred  when  one  has  to  walk  much.  The  two  chests 
made  one  horse- load,  at  the  top  of  which  our  coffee-pot 
was  tied.  The  second  load  consisted  of  a  small  tent 
for  two,  very  seldom  used,  but  sometimes  necessary 
to  protect  our  equipment,  a  bag  of  provisions,  and  a 
small  bag  containing  our  kitchen  requisites,  which  were 
of  aluminium.  The  sleeping-bags,  a  simple  blanket- bag 
with  canvas  covers,  were  used  as  underlayers  for  the 
loads,  which  were  thereby  prevented  from  galling  the 
horses'  sides.  The  load  was  fixed  with  a  strong  rope 
after  Pagels'  patent  method — very  practical  but  certainly 
not  without  intricate  sailor's  knots;  woe  to  him  who 
tried,  if  only  in  the  slightest  degree,  to  deviate  from 
the  approved  arrangement:  Pagels  at  once  told  him 
the  truth.  Every  load  was  of  about  150  lbs. — 
quite  sufficient  if  one  takes  into  consideration  that  the 
pack-horses  had  to  work  all  march- days,  the  saddle- 
horses  only  every  second  day.  Besides  our  own 
weight,  they  carried  also  the  maletas,  containing  various 
articles  of  apparel,  camera,  plant- press,  &c.,  and  there 
also  the  collections  made  during  a  march  were  stowed 
away.  Perhaps  I  ought  also  to  say  some  words  about 
our  horse-gear.  The  pack-saddles  were  almost  new; 
they  had  only  been  used  for  Quensel's  travels,  and  were 
of  the  common  South  American  type.  Our  saddles  made 
a  varied  show:  one  English,  one  half  English,  half 
Chilean,  one  of  the  Falkland  pattern,  and  one  Argentine 


ACROSS  THE  ANDES  INTO  ARGENTINA    165 

recado.  The  rest  of  the  harness  was  pure  Patagonian, 
bozal  and  cahresta^  always  carried  in  the  hand  with  the 
reins;  the  stirrup  had  the  usual  leather  protection, 
the  whip  was  a  common  rebenque. 

The  provisions  were  of  the  most  simple  kind.  They 
were  calculated  for  one  month  only — during  which  we 
certainly  counted  on  the  renowned  Patagonian  hos- 
pitality— and  consisted  of  the  following  articles :  ship's 
biscuits,  flour,  rice,  oatmeal,  coffee,  tea,  cocoa,  mate, ' 
dried  fruit,  sugar,  salt,  and  fat.  Luxuries  such  as  butter, 
condensed  milk,  &c.,  were,  of  course,  not  to  be  thought 
of.  A  concentrated  pea- soup,  called  Knorr's  "  Erbsen- 
wn.irst,"  we  carried  a  supply  of  for  the  whole  journey, 
as  well  as  plug  tobacco. 

October  23  dawned  with  radiant  pampas  weather. 
For  the  first  time  we  saddled,  and  it  took  us  a  good 
while  to  get  ready,  and  not  until  half-past  eleven  could 
the  caravan  start.  The  solenan  time  had  come,  and, 
driving  our  troop  in  front  of  us,  with  good  speed  we 
left  Bariloche,  where  people  had  only  tried  to  fleece  us. 
Before  us  a  free  life  attracted  us,  full  of  privations  but 
far  away  from  cash-books  and  biUs;  with  deep  breaths 
we  filled  our  lungs  with  the  fresh  pampas  air,  bringing 
with  it  an  undefinable  sense  of  happiness  and  free- 
dom. 

A  group  of  Bariloche  people  had  gathered  to  see  our 
start.  I  daresay  no  one  believed  that  we  should  get 
very  far  with  our  few  horses,  and  no  doubt  they  laughed 
at  our  dream  of  reaching  Punta  Arenas.  Never  did 
such  a  small  caravan  start  in  Patagonia  on  such  a  long 
and  difficult  journey,   never  before  had  one  reached 


166  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

its  far-off  destination  with  all  the  horses  in  even  better 
condition  than  at  the  start.  But  we  had  burnt  our 
boats ;  there  was  no  return ;  we  must  succeed  with  the 
scanty  resources  we  had  at  our  disposal. 

In  the  very  last  moment  our  expedition  got  another 
member,  a  shaggy  dog.  He  had  made  Prince' s  acquaint- 
ance in  Bariloche  and  came  lumbering  with  us.  In  vain 
we  made  the  most  energetic  efforts  to  chase  him  away ; 
he  hung  on,  and  followed  us  all  the  time  under  the  name 
of  Pavo.  And  then  we  took  our  faithful  friend  with  us 
to  Sweden,  where  he  gained  citizenship  only  by  royal 
grace,  for  Argentina  at  that  time  was  declared  to  be 
infected  with  rabies. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THROUGH  NORTHERN  PATAGONIA 

During  the  first  few  days  our  march  was  not  attended 
by  any  difficulties,  as  we  only  followed  the  common 
track,  here  and  there  visible  over  the  pampas.  On  our 
right  was  the  so-called  Pre- Cordillera,  where  outlines 
are  softer  and  the  snow-patches  insignificant.  Deep 
ravines  appear  in  the  easily  disintegrating  tufas,  and 
here  dark  forest- groves  extend,  though  not  reaching 
down  to  where  we  were  travelling.  Behind  and  in  front 
of  us  lay  the  broken  ground  of  the  high  pampas  with 
hills  and  ravines,  towards  the  east  the  endless  undu- 
lating plains  reaching  far  away  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 
The  yellow  sand  gleams  between  tufts  of  stiff  steppe 
plants  and  scented  spring  flowers,  red  or  blue,  yellow 
or  white,  now  and  then  tempting  me  to  alight  to 
gather  specimens.  Everywhere  the  blue- green  hillocks 
of  Mulinum  s'pinosum  (an  umbelHferous  plant)  appear, 
together  with  the  stiff  tussocks  of  grasses,  the  most 
noticeable  growths  on  the  dry,  sandy  steppe.  Almost 
everything  is  prickly ;  the  shrubs  are  armed  to  the  teeth, 
the  leaves  of  the  grass  end  in  a  sharp  needle,  breaking 
off  at  the  slightest  touch:  if  one  sits  down  carelessly 
one  soon  jumps  up  again,  spiny  like  an  urchin,  but  with 
the  important  difference  that  the  spines  are  tm-ned 
towards  one's  own  skin.    Now  and  then  a  cactus  is 

167 


168  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

seen  resting  its  growth  on  the  stony  soil.     On  the  hills 
and  plateaus  vegetation  is  more  scanty.     It  is  almost  a , 
desert,  red  or  yellow,  strewn  with  sharp- edged  stones, 
with  stunted  plants  in  the  cracks,  such  as  are  specially  ^ 
fitted  to  endure  the  hardships  of  desert  life ;   sometimes 
they  look  like  a  tangle  of  spines,  out  of  which  some  few 
brilliant  flowers  peep  forth ;  sometimes  they  are  wrapped 
in  a  dense  clothing  of  thick  wool  and  have  roots  dis- 
appearing in  the  very  bowels  of  the  earth,  where  there 
is  perhaps  water  to  drink.     The  numerous  spines  are  . 
one  of  the  nuisances  of  the  steppe.     Another  is  the    i 
wind,  often  blowing  hard  for  a  long  time  and  enveloping 
us  in  a  cloud  of  dust.     But  certainly  we  preferred  this^ 
to  the  eternal  rains  of  the  west  coast. 

Hours  pass,  the  sun  bakes  us  red  or  brown,  the  dust 
gathers  in  thicker  and  thicker  deposits.  The  bell  on 
the  mare  tinkles,  the  hoofs  rattle  on  the  hard  ground. 
The  horses,  untrained  as  they  are  after  a  long  winter's 
leisure,  get  less  wilHng,  one  or  other  tries  to  pluck  a 
mouthful  of  the  rough  yellow  grass.  We  must  show 
more  energy  in  driving  the  troop,  and  Pagels  is  fre- 
quently heard  shouting  a  "  verdammtes  Kamel,"  in  a 
very  bad  case  increasing  his  anger  to  a  "  heihges 
Kanonenrohr,"  the  strongest  expression  he  is  able  to 
lay  tongue  to,  and  surely  a  relic  of  his  service  in 
the  navy.  We  welcome  the  small  valley,  our  first 
camping- place,  where  a  tiny  stream  winds  between 
thickets  of  nire.  Patches  of  green  grass  attract  the 
horses ;  we  find  a  nice  and  sheltered  corner  and  unsaddle. 
One  horse  is  chosen  and  tfithexgd  to  a  long  rope ;  the 
others  are  simply  let  loose,  with  the  exception  of  the 


THROUGH  NORTHERN  PATAGONIA   169 

marf,  who  is  provided  with  maneas  round  the  front 
legs.  So  one  is  more  or  less  sure  of  finding  the  troop 
in  the  neighbourhood  the  next  morning.  The  first  camp- 
fire  crackles,  the  mate  makes  its  round,  and  a  real  fat 
asado  of  beef  drips  on  the  spit.  Poor  misguided  vege- 
tarians would  not  thrive  here;  meat  and  meat  again 
will  probably  always  be  the  staple  food  of  the  pampas. 
Here  in  Sweden  we  hardly  know  what  good  meat  is. 
I  learnt  to  understand  my  Argentine  friend  from  the 
Antarctic  voyage,  Jose  Sobral,  who  deliberately  shook 
his  head  at  the  stuff  he  was  offered  in  Upsala.  I  think 
that  then  I  tried  to  defend  it,  but  I  have  already  with- 
drawn my  defence. 

The  delicious  steak  whets  our  appetite,  and  from 
curiosity  one  soon  cuts  into  it  to  see  if  it  has  not  got  the 
right  colour.  A  pack-saddle  or  the  sleeping-bag  is  our 
seat.  A  large  piece  of  meat  in  one  hand,  the  big  sheath- 
knife  in  the  other — that's  the  way  to  eat  asado.  A 
couple  of  biscuits  and  a  cup  of  cocoa  end  our  meal — 
dinner  and  supper  at  the  same  time.  Generally  we 
only  fed  twice  a  day,  put  a  piece  of  biscuit  or  cold  meat, 
if  there  was  any,  in  our  pocket,  and  ate  it  during  one 
of  the  halts  we  were  forced  to  make  to  give  the  horses 
a  spell  of  rest.  They  got  thirsty  and  we  wanted  to 
stretch  our  legs. 

Darkness  falls  over  the  expanses,  the  stars  come  out, 
and  oiu:  camp-fire  more  and  more  commands  the  sur- 
roundings. We  gladly  linger  a  while  over  our  pipes  ; 
it  is  the  most  pleasant  hour  of  the  day,  and,  if  possible, 
we  want  to  prolong  it.  But  there  is  a  next  day,  and  the 
thought  of  this  makes  us  look  for  a  bed  in  the  bushes, 


170  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

spread  out  the  bag,  make  a  bundle  of  the  clothes  under 
the  head,  creep  down,  and  enjoy  the  last  whifi  of  smoke. 
Ah,  these  nights  under  the  open  sky — it  seems  almost 
a  pity  to  sleep — now  out  in  the  open  camp,  where  the 
barren  sand  gleams  between  the  grass  and  the  ghostly 
silhouette  of  a  single  bush  stands  against  the  sky,  now 
under  soughing  trees,   where  the  moonbeams  seek  a 
way  through   the   black  foliage.     Cross   and   Centaur 
wander  the  eternal  road,  the  murmur  of  the  stream  is 
conducive  to   sleep.  ...     A  ghostly  cry  breaks   the 
stillness,  our  dogs  prick  up  their  ears  and  bark:    only 
a  hungry  fox  who  has  scented  our  pantry!     From 
Pagels'  bag  comes  a  "  gute  Nacht,"  one  turns  to  find 
a  comfortable  position,  and  is  soon  at  home  among  the 
firs  and  red-painted  houses  in  the  land  far  away,  which 
now  looks  so  marvellous  to  us.     The  night  is  clear  and 
cold,  and  with  great  satisfaction  we  greet  the  first 
sunbeams  that  creep  from  the  ocean  all  the  way  to  the 
foot  of  the  Andes.     The  day  will  get  hot,  and  the  thing 
is  to  get  off  when  the  freshness  of  the  morning  still 
lies  over  the  land.     First  the  morning  toilet  must  be 
performed.      The   reader   imagines,    I    should    think, 
how  we  enjoyed  a  good  wash  in  the  purling  brook ; 
alas!  we  also  imagined  it,  but  it  was  seldom  accomplished 
in  reality.     It  did  not  pay,  for  after  half  an  hour's  ride 
one  was  as  dirty  again,  and  we  were  more  satisfied 
with  occasional  thorough  cleanings  on  solemn  occasions. 
But  there  was  one  paragraph  in  our  codex  of  cleanHness 
from  which  there  was  no  exception:    he  who  was  to 
make  bread  must  first  wash  his  hands. 
Work  was   certainly  not  lacking  in  the  morning. 


THROUGH  NORTHERN  PATAGONIA   171 

Collections  and  notes  had  to  be  put  in  order,  the  break- 
fast prepared,  and  the  horses  driven  to  the  camp,  caught, 
and  saddled.  Every  day  I  had  plants  to  press,  which 
I  performed  in  a  simple  manner,  for  naturally  the  usual 
heavy  plant- presses  were  banished ;  but  with  two  pieces 
of  cardboard,  a  rope,  and  old  newspapers  I  got  in  the 
settlements  I  managed  all  right.  Breakfast  consisted 
for  the  most  part  of  porridge,  meat,  bread  (when  we  had 
any),  and  coffee.  It  was  soon  eaten,  cups  and  plates 
washed,  the  saucepan  cleaned.  This  last  job  we  took 
by  turns ;  not  even  the  palatable  scrapings  could  make 
it  enjoyable. 

The  watch- horse  was  saddled ;  we  must  look  for  the 
others.  In  most  cases  this  did  not  give  us  much  trouble, 
because  when  it  was  possible  we  carefully  chose  good 
pasture.  It  was  much  worse  to  catch  the  horses.  With 
the  ropes  we  made  a  corral,  easy  enough  in  the  forest, 
but  often  very  tedious  when  out  on  the  open  pampas, 
where  hardly  a  single  suitable  bush  could  be  discovered. 
Some  of  the  animals  were  easy  to  catch,  but  others 
tried  our  patience,  hiding  amongst  their  fellows  or 
breaking  away.  Finally  the  full  number  of  six  were 
tied  and  we  started  to  saddle.  We  always  saddled 
our  own  horses,  and  soon  got  very  expert  at  handling 
all  sorts  of  gear.  The  loads  lay  ready  waiting,  nothing 
was  forgotten,  and  the  first  camping-ground  disappeared 
behind  a  hill. 

We  could  soon  distinguish  our  destination  for  the 
second  day,  a  single  rust- brown  peak,  called  Pico 
Quemado  (The  Burnt).  Following  the  Cordillera,  the 
track  went  ceaselessly  uphill  and  downhill.    But  the 


172  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

monotony  was  broken  when  suddenly  the  load  on  one 
of  the  horses  loosened.  We  stopped  and  tried  to  catch 
him,  but  he  bolted  at  once.  The  load  slipped  round, 
terrible  kicks  struck  the  boxes,  and  oiu:  coffee-pot 
soon  was  changed  into  a  tragi- comic,  completely  useless 
utensil.  "  It  served  you  right,  you  ass ! "  Pagels 
said,  when  the  beast  at  last  lay  there,  entangled  in 
the  rope.  By- and- by  we  gained  more  experience, 
though  not  a  day  elapsed  when  we  had  not  to  rearrange 
the  loads.  The  whole  day  we  were  ascending,  it  grew 
colder,  and  the  wind  freshened  and  felt  biting  cold  in 
spite  of  the  northerly  latitude.  At  4900  feet  we 
reached  the  pass,  and  made  downhill  towards  a  small 
stream  on  the  south  side  of  Pico  Quemado. 

Another  day  and  we  came  across  the  first  houses, 
a  small  settlement,  and  in  the  evening  stopped  in  fi'ont 
of  a  large  wooden  house  in  Norquinco.  Here  the  Chile- 
Argentina  Company  has  established  a  branch.  The  place 
is  as  typical  of  civilised  Patagonia  as  we  could  wish : 
an  iron  shed  for  the  telegraph  office,  where  floats  a 
faded  Argentine  flag,  a  holiche  with  horse-gear,  bunches 
of  stirrups  and  spiu-s,  hanging  from  the  roof,  a  pile 
of  sheepskins  thrown  into  a  corner,  heaps  of  clothing, 
gaudy  handkerchiefs,  black,  huge- brimmed  hats,  knives 
and  revolvers,  long  rows  of  tin  boxes  with  multicoloured 
labels,  and  last,  but  not  least,  the  cantina — the  bar  with 
wine-barrels,  shelves  of  bottles  in  all  the  shifting  colours 
of  the  rainbow,  fisco  (a  weak  Chilean  brandy),  aeru- 
ginous  Menta  liqueur,  Jamaica  rum  with  its  nigger 
head,  whisky  and  brandy,  some  champagne  bottles  and 
the  wash-up  tub,  where  the  glass  is  dipped  an  instant 


THROUGH  NOETHERN  PATAGONIA   173 

before  it  is  offered  to  the  next  customer.  Outside  at 
the  traditional  barrier  some  horses  are  tied,  waiting 
for  their  masters.  And  they  will  have  to  wait.  .  .  . 
The  dice  are  thrown,  laughter  echoes  within  the  walls. 
Swarthy  individuals,  pure  Indians  dressed  in  poncho 
and  wide  trousers,  pulled  together  at  the  wrist,  white 
socks,  and  a  pair  of  slippers,  Chileans,  Argentiners, 
and  gringos  (strangers).  A  dirty  policeman,  dressed  in 
the  remains  of  a  uniform,  hangs  about  the  bar.  Con- 
versation stops  for  a  moment  when  we  enter :  evidently 
we  do  not  look  like  everyday  comers  and  they  gaze 
curiously  at  our  cargo.  The  social  tone  is  free  and 
friendly  here.  You  suddenly  find  yourself  a  member  of 
the  party,  a  glass  is  thrust  into  your  hand,  Salud  !  to 
right  and  left,  and  then  it  is  your  turn  to  order  a 
"  roimd."  If  one  has  any  idea  of  Patagonian  customs, 
one  takes  care  not  to  refuse — it  might  cost  one  dear. 

It  was  easy  enough  for  us  to  get  dinner  and  a  bed, 
but  we  thought  more  of  our  horses.  Everywhere 
here  the  scanty  grass  was  gone,  and  as  there  were  no 
paddocks  we  were  anxious  lest  the  horses  should  run 
away — a  starved  horse  strays  until  he  finds  something 
to  eat. 

At  seven  in  the  morning  the  policeman  rode  away  to 
look  for  our  troop,  and  we  awaited  his  return  anxiously. 
And  when  he  returned  alone  we  knew  the  truth:  the 
horses  had  gone.  There  are  many  points  on  the  compass, 
but  we  must  seek  in  all.  Kind  souls  offered  their 
services,  others  confined  themselves  to  discussing 
matters  and  made  all  sorts  of  guesses.  The  inspector 
of  pohce,  who  had  arrived,  declared  that  the  horses 


174  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

most  probably  had  gone  back  to  Bariloche,  and  we 
sent  a  telegram  there;  others  were  inclined  to  suspect 
that  thieves  had  had  a  hand  in  it;  one  fellow  looked 
at  the  inspector  and  whispered  to  me  that  the  poHce 
perhaps  knew  .  .  .  Well,  it  would  not  have  been  the 
first  time  a  thing  like  that  had  happened  in  the  Cor- 
dillera. A  number  of  feons  (camp-labourers)  were 
sent  to  look  in  different  directions,  and  we  strolled 
far  away  over  the  hills,  provided  with  glasses;  we 
saw  some  horses,  but  not  ours.  At  noon,  however, 
one  of  the  men  returned  with  the  mare  and  five  horses, 
but  the  other  five  had  strayed  away.  New  guests 
arrived  in  the  evening;  our  horses  were  the  favourite 
topic,  and  if  good  advice  had  been  able  to  do  anything, 
certainly  there  was  plenty.  We  went  to  bed  in  a  miser- 
able state  of  mind.  Five  horses  gone;  we  could  not 
buy  others  without  getting  into  debt,  and  who  knew 
if  anybody  would  be  wilhng  to  give  unknown  strangers 
credit  ?  And  without  these  horses,  the  caravan  reduced 
to  half,  it  would  prove  impossible  to  carry  out  oiu: 
scheme — an  ignominious  end  to  om'  bold  hopes.  The 
next  day  we  arranged  a  systematic  search.  Indian 
peons  got  the  description  of  the  horses,  and  were  pro- 
mised a  reward  if  they  brought  them  back.  They 
intended  to  track  them  down.  The  horses  were  shod, 
it  is  true,  and  therefore  easy  to  distinguish  from 
others,  but  the  hardness  of  the  ground  and  the  strong 
wind  would  make  matters  more  difficult.  We  resolved 
to  continue  our  march  with  the  rest  of  the  caravan, 
leaving  Pagels  behind  to  watch  over  om-  interests  and 
make  inquiries  of  people  all  round  in  his  beautiful 


THROUGH  NORTHERN  PATAGONIA   175 

Spanish.  However,  we  had  ahnost  lost  hope  of  seeing 
our  animals  (some  of  them  good  horses)  any  more, 
and  began  to  believe  that  thieves  had  driven  them 
out  of  the  way  on  purpose,  only  waiting  for  us  to  lose 
patience  and  leave  the  place — an  old  Patagonian 
trick  often  employed  with  profit.  We  left  Norquinco 
and  followed  a  cart-track,  after  a  while  turning  to  the 
west,  through  a  very  distinct  pass,  a  true  portezuelo, 
leading  down  into  the  valley  of  Rio  Chubut.  Large 
herds  of  cattle  were  grazing  on  the  well-watered 
meadows,  and,  hungry  as  they  were,  oiu?  horses  would 
not  have  refused  a  good  meal,  but  time  did  not  permit 
of  this.  Rio  Chubut,  one  of  the  largest  rivers  of  Pata- 
gonia, is  here  only  small,  though  sometimes  so  swollen 
that  it  is  difficult  to  cross.  Now  there  was  not  much 
water,  and  we  easily  reached  the  small  eskmcia  May  ten, 
where  we  stopped  for  the  night.  Only  the  wife  of  the 
capataz{t]ie  "boss")  was  at  home,  and  at  first  she  did 
not  seem  very  willing  to  welcome  us,  but  after  a  while 
promised  to  cook  some  food  and  let  us  sleep  in  the 
peons'  quarters.  I  do  not  blame  her,  for  the  master 
of  the  home  was  away  and  we  might  have  been  a  band 
of  rascals,  a  possibihty  not  at  all  contradicted  by  our 
appearance.  A  gentleman  rider  in  Patagonia  brings 
several  servants,  and  if  one  does  any  sort  of  work 
usually  left  to  the  peons  this  never  evokes  admiration, 
but  only  sheer  astonishment. 

As  on  every  estancia  one  or  two  horses  are  tethered 
for  the  night,  we  let  ours  go,  and  in  the  morning  a  peon 
promised  to  fetch  them.  He  went  away  all  right; 
and  came  back  after  two  hours — without  the  horses: 


176  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGOOTA 

"  he  had  not  gone  in  the  right  direction,"  he  said. 
A  traveller,  a  kind  fellow,  who  had  spent  the  night 
with  us,  offered  to  fetch  them  himself,  and  finally,  at 
noon,  they  came.  The  peon  had  been  there,  for  a  hozal 
that  we  had  left  on  one  of  the  pack-horses  in  order  to 
catch  him  with  less  trouble  was  gone.  There  was  no 
time  to  look  for  it;  it  was  nearly  one  o'clock,  and  we 
had  a  ride  of  thirty- one  miles  in  front  of  us.  Over 
easy  ground  we  followed  the  Chubut  river  till  it  bent 
to  the  east,  and  at  nightfall  reached  the  Lelej  valley, 
where  we  soon  perceived  a  group  of  large  buildings, 
indicating  a  big  farm.  It  was  the  headquarters  of  the 
"  Enghsh- Argentine  Land  Company,"  whose  manager, 
Mr.  Preston,  welcomed  us  in  a  very  kind  manner. 
Lelej  is  typical  of  a  large  cattle- farm.  In  a  low  building 
of  red  brick — the  ground  is  cheap,  so  there  is  no  reason 
to  make  houses  of  more  than  one  storey — are  the 
lodgings,  offices,  shops,  and  stores ;  all  round  are  various 
workshops,  such  as  a  carpenter's  and  a  blacksmith's 
shop,  the  house  of  the  "  bosses,"  and  the  plain  ranchos 
of  the  peons.  In  the  vicinity  one  does  not  look  in  vain 
for  the  piles  of  fuel,  brought  there  from  a  long  distance, 
the  great,  ever-increasing  heap  of  empty  tin  boxes, 
the  bulky,  high- wheeled  bullock- carts,  and  the  rolls 
of  wire.  Round  the  houses  stretch  smallish  potreros, 
or  paddocks,  for  the  hundreds  of  horses  in  daily  use, 
and  away  over  the  hills  the  fences  run  straight  as  an 
arrow. 
4  The  peons  are  a  pecuhar  class  of  people.  Pure 
Indians  or  mestizos,  they  are  nearly  all  doomed  to 
eternal    bachelorhood;     one    can    hardly    imagine    a 


J 


I'    < 


THROUGH  NOETHERN  PATAGONIA   177 

married  peon.  All  day  they  spend  on  horseback, 
at  night  they  crawl  in  on  the  earthen  floor  round 
the  cauldron  with  puchero  hanging  down  from  the 
roof,  feed,  smoke  a  cigarette,  take  innumerable  cups 
of  7nate,  then,  wrapped  in  a  blanket,  they  sleep  on 
some  rags  in  a  corner.  Pleasures  of  life  take  the  form 
of  7nate  and  tobacco,  and,  of  course,  spirit,  when  they 
can  get  it.  Here  is  the  home  of  a  peon  to-day; 
to-morrow  he  does  some  foolish  thing,  takes  too  long  a 
siesta,  perhaps,  and  is  sent  off.  In  five  minutes  he 
has  packed  together  his  property,  put  them  and  himself 
on  a  horse,  and  has  galloped  away  to  seek  fortune  else- 
where. Of  course,  he  has  horses,  often  a  whole  drove ; 
horses  multiply  and  there  is  always  pasture.  But 
light  come,  hght  go ;  an  attracting  "  pub,"  an  unscru- 
pulous publican,  and  after  some  days  of  splendid 
intoxication  he  rides  away  on  a  borrowed  horse.  A 
peon  who  saves  his  pay  puts  it  all  into  his  horse- 
trappings;  one  can  see  him  in  his  Sunday  clothes 
with  a  small  fortune  of  silver  on  the  horse,  an  ancient 
custom  inherited  from  Tehuelche  or  Araucanian  an- 
cestors. It  is  curious  to  think  that  not  many  years 
ago  this  vast  land  was  the  free  battlefield  of  the  Indian, 
he  who  now  is  its  most  humble  servant,  whom  any 
stranger  with  a  piece  of  land  thinks  it  fitting  to  kick 
and  insult,  always  letting  him  understand  that  he 
belongs  to  an  inferior  race,  living  at  the  intruder's 
mercy.  Sometimes  it  happens  that  he  gains  the 
confidence  of  his  master,  is  promoted  to  capataz  and 
gets  his  own  house;  and  should  it  happen  that  a  girl 
finds  her  way  out  to  the  camp,  he  may  get  a  family 


4 


178  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

also.     A  common  peon  she  does  not  look  at;  there 
are  always  persons  of  higher  rank  who  are  glad  to  take 

care  of  her. 

Life  in  Lelej  goes  like  clockwork.  All  the  employees 
are  Englishmen  or  Scotchmen  and  have  brought  their 
customs  to  the  new  country.  On  the  stroke  of  half- 
past  six  they  are  sitting  at  breakfast,  where  every  passing 
gentleman  may  be  sure  of  a  seat  and  a  mutton  chop ; 
the  bread  is  as  English  as  one  could  wish,  and  luncheon 
or  dinner  arrives  with  magnificent  beef  or  roast  mutton. 
And  if  one  discovers  a  football  or  golf  clubs  it  is  nothing 
astonishing.  Lelej  appeared  to  us  a  very  well  managed 
enterprise,  where  people  work  ceaselessly. 

^  The  greatest  difficulties  these  settlements  in  the 
Andes  have  to  contend  with  are  the  bad  communications. 
Everything  goes  by  cart  to  the  Atlantic  coast,  making  ^  J 
journeys  lasting  weeks  and  months,  under  great  diffi- 
culties of  finding  water  on  the  half  desert- like  plains. 
Great  railway  schemes  are  now  spoken  of,  or  even  started, 
and  then  Patagonia  will  be  able  to  show  what  she  is 
capable  of. 

Lelej  was  the  last  telegraph  station,  and  we  were  in 
continuous  communication  with  Norquinco.  All  hope 
seemed  gone,  as  Pagels  asked  permission  to  buy  a  new 
horse  and  join  us;  but  I  asked  him  to  stop  another 
day,  which  proved  to  be  a  piece  of  luck.  We  had 
plenty  of  work  in  the  neighbourhood — made  a  ride  up 
in  the  mountains,  where  snow  still  lay  in  the  forests, 
just  dressed  in  the  verdure  of  spring.  Quensel  visited 
the  flourishing  Cholila  valley  in  the  west,  and  Halle 
was    busy    collecting    fossils.    However,    we    worked 


THROUGH  NORTHERN  PATAGONIA   179 

with  depressed  spirits.  Certainly  Mr.  Preston  had 
promised  to  guarantee  us  money  if  we  telegraphed  to 
Buenos  Aires  for  some;  he  had  no  horses  to  sell  us 
himself.  Later  it  proved  that  it  would  have  been 
very  difficult  to  get  any.  We  did  not  want  to  get 
the  expedition  into  debt,  as  it  was  our  pride  to  make 
an  exception  to  the  rule.  November  came,  still  no 
news.  Then,  on  November  2,  like  a  sunbeam  from  an 
overclouded  sky  came  the  following  telegram :  "  Hay 
noticias  de  caballos  perdidos ;  Seiior  Pagels  fue  traerlos, 
seguira  viaje  maiiana,"  or,  "Lost  horses  traced;  Mr. 
Pagels  gone  to  fetch  them,  continues  his  journey 
to-morrow."  The  title  plainly  showed  that  Pagels  had 
understood  how  to  inspire  due  respect !  It  had  been 
sent  the  day  before,  and  we  could  expect  him  the  same 
day,  and  were  almost  ready  to  embrace  the  fugitives 
when  they  appeared.  Everything  had  nearly  come  to 
nought ;  Pagels  had  bought  a  horse  on  credit,  and  had 
one  foot  in  the  stirrup,  when  an  Indian  came  on  horse- 
back and  told  him  that  he  knew  where  the  horses  were. 
What  a  big  weight  was  of!  our  minds ! 

Merry  as  before  and  with  a  complete  caravan  we 
started  for  the  next  halting- place,  two  days  off.  Now 
and  then  we  put  up  ostriches  (Rhea),  which  flew  in  all 
directions  with  stretched  wings,  chased  by  our  dogs, 
who  could  never  overtake  them ;  now  and  then  a  small 
herd  of  guanacos  passed,  but  they  also  left  Prince  and 
Pavo  far  behind.  We  had  just  unsaddled  for  the  night 
at  the  side  of  a  small  tributary  to  Chubut,  when  on  the 
other  side  of  the  water  we  saw  the  silhouettes  of  more 
than  a  hundred  guanacos  against  the  evening  sky.     It 


180  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

would  have  been  easy  to  get  a  good  bag,  but  as  long  as 
we  were  in  communication  with  settled  parts  we  need 
not  leave  a  settlement  without  a  couple  of  fine  steaks 
added  to  the  loads,  and  wild  animals  were  safe  from 
our  bullets. 

Guarded  by  the  Esguel  Mountains,  a  large  plain 
stretched  before  us,  and  far  away  we  could  see  two 
high  peaks,  between  which  our  way  would  run,  through 
the  so-called  Nahuelpan  Pass.  It  is  a  narrow  but 
fertile  valley,  with  small  cornfields  round  the  grey 
Indian  mncJios,  shadowed  by  small  groves  of  cedars. 
We  were  not  quite  sure  of  the  way  to  Clarke's  place, 
which  we  wanted  to  visit,  and  asked  an  Indian  who 
passed  us;  he  told  us  that  we  had  missed  our  way, 
and  would  have  to  go  back  again,  but  also  that  if  we 
continued  through  the  pass  we  should  strike  Under- 
wood's farm  in  "  Colonia  16-de-Octubre."  Certainly 
we  had  special  reasons  for  seeing  Clarke ;  Preston  had 
sent  letters  to  him,  and  besides  he  was  an  educated 
man,  a  B.A.  of  an  English  university ;  but  the  detour 
would  be  too  much  for  our  animals,  and  we  continued 
down  to  Underwood,  where  we  arrived  after  a  march 
of  thirty- four  miles.  The  neat  Httle  brick  cottage  lies 
embowered  in  a  garden.  Mr.  Underwood  was  away, 
but  his  wife  welcomed  us,  and  we  soon  felt  at  home. 
By  a  happy  chance  Mr.  Clarke  came  driving  there  the 
same  night,  bound  on  a  business  journey  through  the 
valley,  and  thus  we  had  the  great  pleasure  of  making 
his  acquaintance. 

The  "  Valle  16-de-Octubre"  is  one  of  the  most  fertile 
and  populous  of  the  transandine  valleys.     It  is  watered 


THROUGH  NORTHERN  PATAGONIA   181 

by  Rio  Corintos,  fiu'ther  down  joining  Rio  Futaleufu, 
which  empties  into  Lago  Yelcho,  in  its  turn  discharging  • 
by  Rio  Yelcho  into  the  Pacific.  We  stood  by  the  same 
river  where  we  had  camped  some  months  earher,  but 
the  entire  Cordillera  was  between  the  two  places.  Here 
Chile  had  certainly  wanted  to  emphasize  the  principle 
that  a  water-divide  was  the  natural  frontier,  but  as  the 
valley  had  been  colonized  by  Welshmen  from  Chubut 
(Trelew),  Argentine  kept  the  whole  valuable  part  of  it. 
We  wanted  to  give  our  horses  a  rest  and  let  them  browse 
a  few  days,  and  Clarke  came  with  us  to  look  for  a  farm 
where  people  would  be  willing  to  lend  us  horses  for  our 
excursions. 

Shut  in  by  magnificent  mountain- chains,  this  valley 
is  a  real  gem,  green  with  vast  meadows,  wheat-fields, 
and  clover-fields,  adorned  by  nice  country  houses, 
where  fruit-trees  and  berry-bushes,  cauliflower  and 
lettuce  were  a  delight  to  behold.  We  became  quite 
homesick  when  we  rode  through.  At  the  schoolhouse 
we  stopped.  The  children  are  taught  in  Welsh,  but 
most  of  the  people  we  met  also  spoke  English  and 
Spanish.  We  crossed  Rio  Corintos,  where  fat  cows  of 
Enghsh  breeds  grazed  on  the  banks,  and  made  a  halt 
at  a  farm  of  very  modest  aspect.  The  owner,  however, 
was  a  wealthy  man.  He  was  out  marking  colts,  but 
his  wife  asked  us  to  of! -saddle  and  come  in,  and  wel- 
comed us  with  a  mate.  Then  Don  Antonio  Miguens 
came.  He  received  us  very  kindly  indeed,  promised 
us  horses,  and  proved  a  thorough  gentleman.  He  is, 
besides,  a  very  original  man. 

On  November  6  we  rode  further  into  the  valley  with 


182  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

fresh  horses.  At  the  beginning  we  made  good  speed; 
then  the  valley  narrowed  and  the  patches  of  beautiful 
cedar- forest,  further  east  only  growing  in  the  ravines, 
closed  into  a  dense  covering  on  the  steep  slopes  down 
to  the  broad  river  that  rushed  westward,  embracing 
green  islands.  Ever  since  the  time  when  the  valley 
was  explored  from  the  Pacific  side  a  path  has  been  left, 
but  it  is  anything  but  inviting,  running  up  and  down 
over  neck- breaking  barrancas,  through  thickets  and 
stony  places.  The  horses  were  used  to  this  ground, 
and  did  not  hesitate,  but  jumped  over  the  barricades 
of  fallen  forest  giants.  One  had  better  not  sleep 
in  the  saddle,  for  one's  knees  are  in  continual  danger 
from  trunks  and  huge  blocks.  We  met  passages  so 
intricate  that  we  had  to  leave  them  to  the  horse's 
judgment — the  only  disaster  that  happened  was  that 
our  coffee- pot  (the  second!)  suffered  a  fatal  shock. 
However,  by  giving  it  another  kick  we  made  it  possible 
to  use  for  the  day.  The  vegetation  more  and  more 
showed  signs  of  the  rain- forest,  our  old  friends  the  beeches 
and  myrtle- trees  appeared  again,  and  when  we  reached 
the  boundary- mark  high  up  on  the  south  bank  of  the 
river  Chile  welcomed  us  with  rain  and  fog. 

With  a  sense  of  regret  we  parted  with  the  valley  and 
sought  a  way  south  over  very  broken  ground  with 
dense  brushwood  here  and  there,  making  it  difficult 
to  keep  together.  We  were  not  at  all  sure  of  having 
chosen  the  best  way  till  we  came  in  sight  of  Lake 
Rosario  and  the  extensive  peat- bogs  at  its  west  end, 
where  we  passed  it.  Here  Jeremias,  one  of  the  pack- 
horses — thus  named  because  he  uttered  strange,  plaintive 


THROUGH  NORTHERN  PATAGONIA   183 

sounds  when  being  saddled — got  a  chance  to  prove  his 
eminent  intelligence.  We  had  suspected  that  he  was 
not  quite  normal,  and  now  made  certain.  He  caught 
sight  of  some  horses  on  the  other  side  of  the  swamps, 
was  seized  by  a  sudden  desire  to  make  their  acquaint- 
ance, and  in  a  rapid  gallop  flew  down  the  slope.  We 
followed  him  as  fast  as  our  horses  could  carry  us,  but 
only  arrived  to  see  him  sink  down,  kick  in  desperation, 
and  disappear  to  his  belly.  It  was  a  wet  swamp  of 
the  worst  kind,  and  we  nearly  lost  him.  At  first  all 
efforts  proved  futile,  the  ground  would  not  bear  us, 
but  we  managed  to  unload  him,  and  thus  saved  both 
him  and  the  load. 

At  a  tributary  of  Rio  Carrenleufu  we  camped  for 
the  night,  and  the  next  morning  made  for  the  main 
river.  We  had  some  trouble  with  our  horses,  as  two  of 
them  had  sore  backs  and  could  not  be  used.  The 
least  pressure  of  a  saddle  might  render  them  useless  for 
weeks. 

We  tried  to  set  a  course  straight  for  a  settlement 
indicated  on  the  Argentine  map.  The  ground  was 
very  poor,  innumerable  ravines  filled  with  thickets, 
and  sometimes  so  wet  that  the  horses  had  to  wade 
in  loose  black  mud  over  their  knees.  It  was  more  by 
good  luck  than  good  management  that  we  struck  the 
house  of  Robert  Day,  where  hospitality  indeed 
had  its  abode.  Seldom  do  you  find  its  laws  so  strictly 
kept  as  in  Patagonia.  In  the  settlement  of  white  men 
or  the  rancho  of  an  Indian,  everywhere  you  are  received 
with  open  arms,  and  the  best  there  is  is  put  on  the 
table.     Every  effort  is  made  to  keep  you  there ;  never 


184  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

is  the  house  too  limited  or  the  table  too  small.  We  shall 
never  forget  old  Day,  his  jolly  wife  and  swarm  of  children. 
The  eldest  sons  had  built  their  own  cottages  at  other 
places  in  the  valley.  Day  is  a  true  pioneer  of  the  old 
school,  and  in  our  Patagonian  Baedeker  we  have  marked 
him  with  three  stars.  Originally,  he,  as  well  as  so 
many  others,  had  come  to  look  for  the  yellow  metal, 
but  finished  in  good  time  and  now  has  a  rather  flourishing 
farm.  However,  he  complained  of  the  Government. 
On  repeated  occasions  he  had  offered  to  buy  the  ground, 
but  never  got  a  definite  answer;  he  had  lived  there 
seventeen  years,  but  could  not  feel  sure  that  he  would 
not  be  chased  away  any  day  it  pleased  the  authorities. 
Hitherto  our  direction  had  been  more  or  less  straight 
south,  but  from  Carrenleufu  we  bent  eastward  in  order 
to  visit  the  camp  round  Rio  Tecka,  one  of  Chubut's 
sources,  and  at  the  same  time  make  the  acquaintance 
of  one  of  the  very  few  Swedes  in  Patagonia,  Don  Carlos 
Flach,  of  the  well-known  Swedish  noble  family.  In 
Valparaiso  we  were  told  that  he  was  manager  on  an 
estancia  belonging  to  the  Cochamo  Company,  named 
after  Rio  Cochamo,  which  discharges  into  the  Reloncavi 
Inlet  not  far  from  Puerto  Montt.  There  a  road  has 
been  made  across  to  the  Pacific  coast,  but  it  is  said  to 
be  passable  only  to  riders.  Only  one  day's  march 
separated  us  from  Pampa  Chica,  where  the  sought- for 
estancia  should  be,  but  the  track  is  rather  ill- famed 
because  of  the  extensive  pantanos,  and,  according  to  Day, 
sometimes  quite  impassable.  The  saddle-horses  were 
happily  brought  over  the  bad  places,  but  of  course 
Jeremias  was  bogged  and  caused  us  trouble  and  loss 


THROUGH  NORTHERN  PATAGONIA   185 

of  time.  In  the  afternoon  we  came  across  a  flock  of 
the  company's  sheep ;  they  were  badly  afflicted  with 
scab,  the  wool  hanging  in  tatters  all  round  them.  Well 
hidden  by  the  foot  of  a  hill  there  was  Flach's  cottage, 
and  the  master  of  the  house  was  not  a  little  astonished 
when  three  dusty  riders  greeted  him  in  his  own  language. 
A  merry  encounter  it  was,  and  he  at  once  offered  to 
let  us  share  his  small  hut;  the  lodge  had  burnt 
down  some  time  previous  to  our  arrival.  The  company 
seemed  to  be  of  the  Yelcho  sort ;  it  had  gone  into  liqui- 
dation and  was  selling  the  animals.  Flach  was  about 
to  leave,  only  waiting  to  get  his  money.  He  was 
thinking  of  getting  a  piece  of  camp  further  south.  Again 
our  horses  could  rest,  for  Flach  lent  us  some  for  our 
excursions.  The  vegetation  was  glorious  here,  and  I 
had  plenty  to  do  from  morning  to  evening. 

It  had  proved  more  than  necessary  to  get  two  more 
animals  in  order  to  change  the  pack-horses,  and  this 
problem  was  solved  in  a  most  unexpected  manner. 
Flach  presented  us  with  one,  which  belonged  to  nobody, 
but  had  been  two  years  on  the  company's  camp.  Of 
course  he  was  baptized  Flax  (Flach's;  untranslatable 
Swedish  pun ;  Flax  is  =  luck),  and  turned  out  one  of 
our  very  best  horses.  Besides,  we  bought  a  small  but 
good  horse;  under  the  name  of  Johansson  he  carried 
me  at  least  every  second  march- day  during  the  rest 
of  the  time. 

Of  my  horses  I  kept  Solo,  the  largest  of  our  animals, 
but  the  old  Manasse  was  degraded  to  a  pack-horse. 
Quensel  got  Flax,  Halle  took  Jacob  and  gave  Lazarus 
(a  long  time  with  a  sore  back,  thus  his  name)  to  Pagels, 


186  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

one  of  whose  horses  became  a  pack-horse.  The  new 
horses  learnt  to  keep  with  our  troop  by  getting  coupled 
with  the  mare  the  first  nights.  This  lady  was  not  tame, 
and  often  annoyed  us  with  her  impertinent  looks  and 
her  obstinacy.  To  ride  a  mare  is  hardly  thinkable  in 
Patagonia. 

Thus  we  considered  ourselves  well  off,  bought  more 
provisions,  and  on  November  15  left  our  new  friend, 
whose  small  cottage  soon  disappeared  from  sight  behind 
the  yellow  hills. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THROUGH  THE  CORDILLERAS  TO  THE  PACIFIC  COAST 

The  pampas  visited  during  the  following  days  showed 
us  a  new  featiu:e  of  Patagonian  camp,  the  want  of  ■ 
water  and  fuel,  which  makes  the  journeys  from  the 
settlements  to  the  coast  somewhat  difficult.  Had  we 
not  found  some  wood  left  from  a  cartload  once  sent  by 
Flach,  we  should  have  been  confined  to  very  dry  food, 
^he  water  was  not  of  the  best,  full  of  innumerable 
small  animals,  larvae  and  crustaceans,  but  boiled  it 
did  not  taste  bad;  besides,  there  was  more  nourish- 
ment in  it  than  there  would  have  been  otherwise^- 
There  was  no  lack  of  small  lagoons,  but  they  are  all 
without  an  outlet,  and  round  their  edge  is  a  thick 
white  crust  of  salt.  The  water  is  bitter  as  gall.  In 
spite  of  that  one  likes  to  stop  there  a  while  to  enjoy 
the  spectacle  offered  by  thousands  of  beautiful  water- 
birds.  Large  flocks  of  bright  flamingoes  walk  about  in 
the  mud,  hundreds  of  black- necked  swans  glide  round  . 
their  large  nests,  resting  in  the  bulrushes;  nearer  to 
the  edges  moorhen  and  many  waders  have  their  quarters ; 
large  fat  geese  walk  round  cackHng  on  the  shore,  and, 
small  ducks  run  through  the  channels  in  the  salt- 
powdered  reeds.  Every  find  of  eggs  is  welcomed  for  our 
kitchen. 

In  the  valley  of  Rio  Pico  we  again  met  people ;  German 

1«7 


188  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

settlers  brought  in  by  a  company  to  drive  sheep  and 
cattle- farm.  They  also  wanted  to  try  agriculture,  and 
had  a  nice  garden  already.  As  usual,  we  were  received 
exceedingly  well,  and  my  journal  says  that  we  slept  on 
mattresses — a  rare  pleasure. 

Before  us  lay  a  meseta,  a  table- mountain  built  up 
of  loose  deposits,  which  we  had  to  cross.  The  mesetas 
are  characteristic  of  the  rand- zone  of  the  Andes ;  further 
south  they  have  a  cover  of  basalt,  making  it  difficult 
or  even  impossible  to  cross  them  with  horses.  This 
plateau  did  not  offer  any  difficulties,  but,  instead  of 
that,  features  of  great  interest,  which  also  made  progress 
slow.  We  ascended  to  a  height  of  about  3300  feet, 
and  went  down  into  the  Frias  or  Cisnes  valley.  The 
large  Frias  river  originates  far  east  of  the  moimtains, 
but  nevertheless  discharges  into  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and 
here  for  a  stretch  Chile's  proposal  for  the  boundary 
was  approved  at  the  award.  The  piece  of  land  is  of 
slight  importance;  only  in  the  eastern  part  is  there 
good  gi'ass ;  proceeding  westward,  one  soon  gets  into 
impenetrable  virgin  forests. 

At  first  we  looked  in  vain  for  any  trace  of  people; 
we  did  not  know  where  the  estancia  was,  and  it  was 
almost  dark,  when,  at  a  distance  of  about  two  miles, 
we  sighted  the  well-known  houses,  proving  the  existence 
of  another  customer  of  the  "  Corrugated  Iron  Company, 
Limited."  The  company  in  the  Frias  valley,  as 
others  in  Chilean  Patagonia,  has  got  leasehold  for  a 
number  of  years ;  after  that  time  the  land  is  disposed  of 
by  auction ;  and  it  is  considered  that  the  company  should 
be  able  to  give  the  best  tender.     One  of  the  conditions 


THEOUGH  THE  CORDILLERAS  189 

for  the  concession  is  that  a  road  is  made  through  the 
mountains  to  the  Pacific  Coast,  in  order  to  provide 
communication  with  the  rest  of  Chile.  At  the  present 
all  transport  goes  to  the  Atlantic,  and  only  Argentine 
money  is  used.  The  company  has  not  started  the  work 
with  the  road  yet,  and  nobody  knows  if  it  will  ever  . 
be  able  to  bring  it  to  an  end  before  its  time  has  elapsed. 
The  cost  is  tremendous. 

The  director  was  not  at  home,  but  his  manager,  an 
Englishman  from  South  Africa,  showed  us  great  hospi- 
tahty.  In  his  company  we  made  an  excursion  far  into 
the  valley,  where  the  open  ground  comes  to  an  end 
and  the  roble  forest  replaces  it.  We  here  met  one  of 
the  most  notable  Patagonian  mammals,  the  small  « 
tuco-tuco  {Ctenomys  magellanicus) ,  a  lovely  gnawer, 
somewhat  recalling  the  lemming.  It  lives  on  the  roots 
of  plants  and  digs  labyrinths  of  tunnels,  completely 
undermining  the  soil.  Without  suspecting  anything 
you  come  along  at  a  canter;  suddenly  the  horse  goes 
through  with  his  front  legs.  You  Lad  better  proceed 
cautiously  or  you  will  easily  get  your  horse  hiu:t.  Some- 
times it  is  not  possible  to  avoid  the  tuco-tuco  ground. 
We  had  to  cross  the  river  several  times  before  we 
came  to  the  forest- belt;  here  for  the  first  time  I  saw  \ 
the  Andine  deer,  the  huemul  {Furcifer  chilensis),  in 
company  with  the  condor  supporter  in  Chile's  coat- 
of-arms.  Like  other  deer  the  huemul  is  of  elegant 
appearance ;  its  colour  is  fight  brown  with  white  on  the 
belly.  The  horns  are  no  remarkable  trophy ;  generally 
they  only  have  four  points.  Fifty  years  ago  the  huemul 
was  regarded  as  a  rare  animal ;  there  was  even  a  time 


190  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

when  he  was  ahnost  as  mythological  as  the  unicorn  or 
the  grifi&n;  but  from  the  Boundary  Commission  we 
learnt  that  he  is  common  in  the  dry  forest- belt  east 
of  the  Andes.  There  his  well-marked  paths  cross  each 
other  in  all  directions,  running  from  the  mountain- 
meadows  down  to  the  streams  in  the  valleys. 
This  day  I  regarded  him  only  as  a  friend  of  nature 
does,  but  later  we  welcomed  him  in  order  to  see 
his  life's  blood.  However,  we  never  killed  for  the 
sport  of  it. 

We  were  just  back  in  the  farm  and  it  was  getting  dark 
when  we  heard  the  sounds  of  an  approaching  caravan, 
which  soon  arrived — horsemen,  a  troop,  and  the  high- 
wheeled  pampas  carriage.     It  was   the  director,  Mr. 
Brand,  who  had  arrived  from  the  coast.     He  brought 
his  wife  and  a  baby  one  month  old  with  him ;   they  had 
been  shaken  a  fortnight  on  the  rough  camp,  but  did 
not  look  any  the  worse  for  that.     Mr.  Brand  seemed 
very  enthusiastic  in  his  work,  but  told  the  rather  amusing 
story  that  the  company's  directors  in  London  are  so 
despotic  that  he  dared  not  shear  a  sheep  without  asking 
permission  by  telegraph !     Concerning  the  future,  he 
did  not  hide  from  himself  that  it  looked  dark  for  the 
moment,  but  better  days  might,  of  course,  be  in  store. 
Many  a  time  as  one  is  looking  out  over  the  fertile 
subandine   valleys    one   is   ready   to   Hsten   to    those 
optimists  who  prophesy  a  splendid  futm:e.     They  please 
your    eye — well- watered    meadows,    streams  of  great 
horse- power,  forests  with  good  timber,  and  the  Cor- 
dillera with  all  its  grandeur.     The  lack  of  communi- 
cations, however,  is  the  great  drawback,  causing  the 


THROUGH  THE  CORDILLERAS  191 

ruin  of  people,  especially  if  they  have  to  clear  roads  to 
Chile ! 

Oiir  way  south  was  closed  by  the  mountains  round 
the  Lakes  Fontana  and  La  Plata,  and  we  found  it 
better  to  make  a  detour  round  the  foot  of  the  mountains 
out  on  the  open  pampas,  which  truly  was  not  in  accord- 
ance with  our  principles.  At  the  pass  over  the  Senguerr 
river,  the  outlet  of  the  above-mentioned  lakes,  a  German 
has  established  a  combined  store  and  public- house. 
Further  down  the  river  Hve  some  colonists.  It  looked 
as  if  Rio  Senguerr  had  devoured  all  the  water  of  the 
neighbourhood.  Under  a  broiling  Sunday  sun  we  rode 
into  the  mountains,  but  nowhere  a  drop  of  running 
water — one  lagoon  after  the  other,  so  white  that  one 
tasted  the  salt  far  off,  green  grass  and  nice  flowers, 
but  not  the  characteristic  fringe  of  brushwood  indicating 
a  murmuring  brook.  This  day  we  came  across  the 
largest  herd  of  guanacos  we  ever  saw,  not  less  than 
four  or  five  hundred,  a  magnificent  sight. 

We  had  now  spent  a  couple  of  days  in  Argentina. 
Again  we  arrived  in  Chile,  but  that  did  not  help  us, 
for  we  had  to  ride  thirty- four  miles  before  we  found 
water.  Down  in  a  valley  a  dark  band  of  foliage  wound  ; 
out  of  it  the  white  skeletons  of  dead  trees  stood  gaunt 
and  lone,  promising  us  a  regular  camp-fire.  Round 
the  east  basin  of  Rio  Aysen  with  its  numerous  tribu-  ■ 
taries  Chile  has  drawn  its  frontier- hne.  Again  we 
were  among  forests  and  mountains,  and  the  open 
spaces  which  are  not  a  result  of  man's  labour  are 
easily  counted.  Our  way  led  into  the  valley  of  Rio 
Nirehuao,  where  well- developed  terraces  on  the  sides 


192  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

attracted  our  attention,  and  on  November  25  we 
reached  the  first  estancia  belonging  to  Compania 
Industrial  del  Eio  Aysen,  where  a  kind  Scotchman 
offered  us  such  dainties  as  we  had  forgotten  the  existence 
of — milk,  butter,  bread,  all  fresh.  Very  soon  we  got 
to  know  that  we  were  back  in  the  forest  region.  Spoilt 
by  dry  and  sunny  weather,  we  did  not  like  to  experience 
cold  or  rain  or  snow.  To  the  east  the  sky  was  clear 
over  the  steppe,  to  the  west  a  rainy  fog  rested  heavily 
on  the  forest- clad  ridges.  In  a  snowstorm  we  left 
this  place  in  order  to  ride  down  to  the  main  estancia. 
The  company  has  made  a  road  between  the  two  places, 
which,  considering  the  difficulties,  cannot  be  caUed 
bad  at  all.  We  met  a  party  of  shepherds  employed 
in  lamb- marking.  Ewes  and  lambs  had  been  driven 
together  into  large  flocks;  there  was  a  bleating  in 
all  sorts  of  keys.  The  lambs  are  driven  into  one 
paddock,  the  mothers  into  another.  The  small,  kicking 
beasts  are  caught,  and  off  comes  the  tail  and  the  ear  is 
bitten  through  !  If  it  be  a  ram  he  is  castrated :  a  cut, 
and  the  testicles  are  hauled  out  with  the  teeth — cer- 
tainly not  a  very  agreeable,  but  nevertheless  a  practical 
method.  Then  the  poor  creatures  are  let  loose,  and  rush 
in  among  the  ewes  with  wild  jumps,  making  a  sorry 
music  looking  for  their  mothers. 

The  route  winds  over  a  meseta,  reaches  a  height  of 
about  3000  feet,  and  drops  again  into  the  Coyaike 
valley:  the  river  is  one  of  Rio  Aysen' s  tributaries.  It 
rained  hard  when  we  rode  through  the  high  roble  forest ; 
the  farther  west  we  came  the  worse  was  the  road, 
in  some  places  hardly  passable.     For  long  stretches  it 


THROUGH  THE  CORDILLERAS  193 

was  plastered  with  sticks,  giving  our  horses  much 
trouble  and  bringing  them  innumerable  lashes.  Some 
of  the  rebelhous  ones  took  their  own  way  through  the 
thickets  and  gave  us  extra  work.  Here  and  there  the 
forest  had  been  burnt,  and  sheep  ran  about  among 
the  black  skeletons.  Pavo,  who,  according  to  his 
custom,  regarded  sheep  exactly  as  guanacos,  soon  got 
his  hide  well  tanned ;  it  was  not  very  pleasant  to  come 
as  guests  to  a  farm  with  a  dog  who  would  worry  sheep. 

The  sun  burst  forth ;  from  a  hill  we  beheld  the  Aysen 
valley  at  our  feet;  here  and  there  a  bend  of  the  river 
was  visible  between  thick  foHage,  which  ghttered  from 
the  rain;  about  eight  miles  further  down  we  saw  the 
houses  of  Coyaike  bajo,  our  destination,  and  in  the 
evening  of  November  26  we  made  our  entry  there. 
It  was  the  biggest  place  we  had  seen  since  Bariloche ; 
the  houses  are  arranged  in  two  Hues  with  a  broad 
street  between  them,  and  Flax  as  well  as  Johansson, 
who  had  never  seen  anything  so  imposing,  visibly 
protested  against  such  an  excess  of  civihzation.  The 
head  of  the  place,  Mr.  Dun,  was  not  at  home,  but  he 
had  written  to  his  people,  evidently  asking  them  to 
treat  us  well,  for  they  did  so,  promising  to  put  people 
and  horses  at  our  disposal,  so  that  our  own  animals 
got  a  week  which  they  sorely  needed  to  gorge  upon 
fat  grass  and  heal  their  backs. 

Here,  amidst  the  wildest  wilderness,  on  all  sides 
surrounded  by  virgin  forests  and  mountains,  was  a 
small  piece  of  old  England— English  language,  food, 
and  customs.  Many  a  spare  hour  we  spent  in  Mr. 
Stewart's  cosy  home,  where  he  and  his  old  wife  vied 


194  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

with  each  other  in  taking  care  of  us,  offering  us  all  sorts 
of  dainties,  almost  too  sharply  contrasting  with  our 
plain  diet. 

Our  principal  task  here  was  to  ride  down  to  the 
"Pacific,  using  the  road  made  by  the  company.  We 
borrowed  a  troop  of  big,  strong  horses,  a  mule  for  the 
cargo,  and  a  small,  fat  Chilote  boy.  Pagels  had  to 
stop  behind,  well  occupied  with  mending  and  darning 
our  damaged  property.  At  a  cost  of  350,000  pesos  the 
company  has  constructed  a  road  of  fifty- one  miles 
down  to  the  mouth  of  Kio  Aysen,  unlike  even  the 
worst  road  you  may  find  in  the  United  Kingdom. 
We  must  not  expect  too  much,  however,  for  the  diffi-^J 
culties  here  are  enormous.  Across  or  round  narrow 
abysses,  climbing  zigzag,  through  stony,  rushing  waters, 
on  narrow  bridges  over  the  precipices,  thus  runs  the 
first  and  best  part  of  it.  Then  come  the  steep  granite 
barrancas  along  the  river,  where  the  road  has  been 
blasted  in  the  shape  of  a  shelf  in  the  wall.  It  makes  a 
turn  and  crosses  the  Baguales  ridge.  Here  is  the 
boundary  between  the  easier  roble  forest  and  the  ever- 
green one,  which  I  have  introduced  to  the  reader  on 
several  occasions.  Once  more  we  entered  the  kingdom 
of  eternal  rain.  On  both  sides  the  forest  stands,  dense 
as  a  wall,  with  bamboo  thickets  and  creepers  high  up 
in  trees,  and  the  hmited  space  left  is  filled  by  half- 
rotten  trunks.  A  never-ceasing  rain  completes  the'^'- 
picture.  The  poncho  is  heavy  as  lead  with  water,  and 
our  boots  are  filled  slowly  but  surely.  Now  and  then  our 
steeds  shake  oil  the  water,  and  then  fall  into  their 
old  tem'po  again.     The  road  is  terrible.     The  horses 


TI^OUGH  THE  CORDILLERAS  195 

wade  knee- deep  through  a  tough  clay  or  a  loose  black 
mud,  where  one  never  knows  how  deep  it  is  to  the 
bottom  and  where  the  entangled  roots  trip  them  up. 
Now  and  then,  often  for  half  a  mile  or  so,  the  road  is 
plastered  with  sticks;  here  one  does  not  sink  down, 
but  it  is  slippery  as  glass  instead,  and  we  are  filled  with 
admu'ation  of  the  surefootedness  of  the  horses.  On 
downward  slopes  it  felt  hke  it  might  feel  riding  down 
a  staircase,  an  experience  I  never  had. 

We  halted  at  Rio  Maniuales — thus  named  because 
there  are  large  quantities  of  maniu  (in  this  case 
Saxegothea  conspicua)  on  its  banks.  It  is  the  largest 
tributary,  and  Halle  and  I  resolved  to  stop  there; 
Quensel  ferried  across  it  and  continued  down  to 
the  coast.  With  dripping  clothes  we  sat  down  by  the 
hearth  in  the  small  cottage  where  the  ferryman  lives, 
and  soon  his  three  little  girls  gathered  round  us, 
curiously  looking  at  the  travellers  from  a  far  country. 
Their  mother  offered  us  a  cup  of  tea  and  told  us  about 
the  monotonous  life  in  the  forest.  Sometimes  the  rain 
makes  the  road  impassable  and  one  is  cut  of!  from  the 
rest  of  the  world,  sometimes  the  river  rises,  causing 
serious  inundations:  last  spring  it  had  carried  away 
one  of  the  ferries  and  threatened  the  house  with  disaster. 
She  was  very  proud  of  her  husband,  who  was  away 
for  the  day,  and  showed  us  his  medal  with  three 
clasps  from  the  South  African  War.  For  once  the 
climate  gave  up  its  bad  ways  and  we  got  a  compara- 
tively fine  day  with  only  a  few  showers.  The  air  was 
filled  with  the  strong  scent  of  laurel  {Laurdia  serrata^ 
order  Monimiacece)  and  array  an  {Myrceugenia  a'piculata^ 


196  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

a  myrtle- tree),  the  corcolen  {Azara  lanceolata,  order 
Flacourtiacece)  was  completely  covered  with  golden 
mimosa  balls,  the  ciruelillo  {Embothrium  coccineum, 
order  Proteacece)  was  on  fire  with  clusters  of  crimson 
flowers.  Yellow  violets,  fine  orchids,  mimulus,  and 
calceolarias  adorned  the  soil.  At  the  river  the  bamboo 
{Chusquea  colihue)  showed  a  luxuriance  I  did  not  see 
in  any  other  place — about  30  feet  high,  and  so  thick 
that  it  could  be  used  for  building  purposes.  One 
would  hardly  believe  that  it  is  only  two  or  three  days' 
journey  to  the  dry  steppe. 

Quensel  returned  after  a  boat- trip  to  Puerto  Chacabuco, 
with  greetings  from  "  el  Pacifico,"  and  now  we  all  went 
back.  We  had  reached  our  goal,  had  made  a  botanical 
as  well  as  geological  section  through  the  mountains, 
and  the  following  days  were  spent  in  detailed  studies 
of  certain  interesting  places.  On  our  return,  just  as 
we  were  about  to  climb  the  slopes  of  the  Baguales 
hill,  we  heard  shouting  from  above,  and  slowly  a  caravan 
of  bullock-carts  came  down  the  sharp  turns  of  the  road. " , 
As  one  sees  these  monstrous  carts  with  their  three  or 
four  pairs  of  oxen  one  understands  what  it  costs  to 
keep  a  forest  road  in  order.  We  had  to  wait  till  they 
had  passed.  Progress  is  not  rapid;  they  need  three 
days  for  the  trip.  Now  and  then  we  met  Chilotes 
occupied  in  repairing  the  road  after  the  devastations 
of  the  spring  flood. 

In  Coyaike  we  bought  provisions  for  the  next  part 

of  our  journey.     Hitherto  we  had  met  people  now  and 

.then  and  found  great  assistance,  but  between  Aysen 

and  Lake  San  Martin,  where  we  intended  to  make  our 


THROUGH  THE  CORDILLERAS  197 

next  stay,  we  could  hardly  count  on  meeting  any 
inhabitants  after  the  first  days  of  march.  We  thus  had 
to  carry  with  us  everything  except  meat,  and  the  load 
was  almost  heavier  than  at  our  first  start.  The  pro- 
visions, calculated  to  last  thirty  days,  consisted  of 
about  the  same  variety  as  before.  However,  we  could 
get  neither  oatmeal  nor  biscuits,  but  had  to  bring  a 
flour-bag.  The  result  was  that  bread  was  of  rare 
occurrence  on  our  table.  It  took  too  much  time  to 
make  it;  pancakes  were  easier  made;  besides,  it  was 
good  to  have  something  to  long  for  and  to  celebrate 
feast-days  with. 

From  Puerto  Montt  we  had  sent  a  box  by  steamer 
to  Aysen;  there  was  paper  for  drying  plants,  spirits, 
formaline,  &c.  We  left  two  boxes  of  collections  in 
care  of  the  company  to  be  forwarded  to  Punta  Arenas ; 
only  in  this  way  was  it  possible  to  make  more  extensive 
collections.  We  had  already  sent  one  box  from  Lelej 
and  another  from  Valle  Frias,  and  we  hoped  to  find 
them  all  on  our  arrival. 

On  December  3  our  caravan  started  again.  On 
account  of  the  rest  and  the  good  grass  our  horses  were 
very  fresh,  and  wath  greater  speed  than  usual  we 
disappeared  between  the  forest-groves,  followed  by  the 
waving  of  the  Aysen  people. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

LAKE   BUENOS    AIRES 

During  the  first  few  hours  we  followed  the  Coyaike 
valley  back  the  same  way  we  had  come,  and  then  turned 
south  in  order  to  cross  a  ridge,  separating  us  from 
the  Mayo  valley,  which  did  not  look  very  inviting. 
A  disagreeable  yellow- brown  coloiu:  told  us  that  we 
should  find  the  crossing  of  it  unpleasant.  Generally 
we  all  used  to  ride  after  the  troop,  two  just  behind  and 
one  on  each  flank,  but  here  we  came  to  a  passage  where 
two  of  us  had  to  keep  ahead  of  the  caravan  and  siKvey 
the  camp,  or  we  might  be  bogged  without  a  warning. 
The  swamps  are  very  treacherous  here,  and  sometimes 
we  cKmbed  a  hill  to  get  a  view  of  the  terrain.  Now  and 
then  we  tried  to  follow  the  track  of  a  guanaco ;  this  is, 
however,  no  particularly  safe  device,  for  where  the  light 
guanaco  can  pass  a  heavy  horse  might  easily  sink  down. 
I  rode  Solo  for  the  first  time  after  his  recovery.  He 
sank  up  to  his  girths  twice,  and  I  had  to  throw  myself 
off  instantly  and  get  him  on  safe  ground  again.  Rio 
Mayo  presents  a  good  example  of  a  very  small  brook 
offering  serious  difficulties.  If  a  stream,  running  deep 
down  in  a  sort  of  furrow  with  the  peat  projecting  like 
a  shelf  above  the  water,  is  so  broad  that  it  cannot  be 
jumped,  it  is  anything  but  easy  to  get  the  horses  across. 
It  is  not  so  bad  if  there  is  a  firm  bed,  but  in  many  cases 

198 


LAKE  BUENOS  AIRES  199 

the  animal  sinks  deep  down  in  loose  mud  and  is  lost. 
Also  a  bed  of  sand  or  gravel  may  be  troublesome;  even 
if  one  can  urge  the  beast  down  it  is  much  labour  to  get 
him  up  again,  the  peat  everywhere  giving  way  under  his 
hoofs.  It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  find  a  suitable 
ford,  even  if  it  should  cost  you  loss  of  time.  Along 
a  considerable  distance  of  Rio  Mayo  we  found  only  one 
place  where  we  could  cross  this  insignificant  stream,  and 
it  took  us  half  an  hoiu:'s  hard  labour  before  we  had  the 
horses  safe  on  the  other  side.  The  main  thing  is  to 
master  the  mare;  the  others  will  follow  her — if  they 
are  not  hke  Ruckel  or  Jeremias,  who  had  wills  of  their 
own  and  nearly  turned  our  hair  grey. 

The  Mayo  valley  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  last  refuges 
for  half- wild  Tehuelches,  living  in  their  toldos  in  the 
ancient  manner.  We  did  not  see  any  traces  of  them, 
but  at  a  distance  sighted  a  rancho,  horses  and  cattle 
indicating  that  the  valley  was  inhabited.  We  had  no 
time  to  stop. 

In  front  of  us  lay  a  great  obstacle,  a  meseta  raising 
its  barrancas  to  a  height  of  4750  feet.  There  is  a 
path  cut  through  the  forest  west  of  this  mountain, 
but  it  had  not  been  used  for  a  long  time  and  was  said 
to  be  almost  impassable;  the  people  in  Aysen  had 
advised  us  not  to  try  it — they  did  not  know  anything 
of  the  meseta  itself,  but  thought  it  would  be  easier  to 
cross  it.  To  ride  round  its  east  end  is  simple,  but  did 
not  suit  our  plans.  Meseta  Chalia,  named  thus 
because  the  Rio  Chalia  originates  on  its  west  plateaus, 
consists  of  loose  material  and  lacks  the  basaltic  crust 
that    made    the    table- mountains   so    dreaded.     But 


200  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

we  were   soon  to  see  that  the   difficulties   were  not 
less  here. 

A  trying  climb  commenced,  and  leading  the  horses 
in  zigzag  we  reached  the  edge  of  the  plateau,  extending 
in  front  of  us  level  as  a  floor  and  covered  with  round 
stones  like  cobbles;  it  reminded  us  of  the  market- 
place in  a  small  town.  For  the  most  part  there  was  no 
vegetation,  only  strips  of  a  meagre  heath  of  diddledee, 
strikingly  recalling  Alpine  tundra.  We  waited  some 
minutes  to  recover  our  breath,  and  then  set  out.  Some 
few  steps — what  does  this  mean  ?  The  pavement, 
looking  so  firm  and  safe,  will  not  bear  us!  Between 
the  blocks,  which  fret  the  skin,  the  horses  go  down  into 
a  terrible  viscous  stuff :  when  the  snow  melted  the  soil 
had  been  saturated  with  water — it  is  what  geologists  call 
solifluction,  though  the  soil  does  not  move,  the  ground 
being  fairly  horizontal.  Some  snow- patches  were  still 
left ;  at  their  edge  there  was  no  bottom.  It  was  desperate 
work.  To  ride  was  not  to  be  thought  of ;  we  tramped 
and  tramped,  dragging  our  saddle-horses  and  whipping 
the  others.  We  struggled  to  get  on  to  the  firm  strips 
of  heath  where  we  could  breathe  a  moment,  which  we 
really  deserved,  for  the  misery  lasted  several  hours. 
Suddenly  we  found  ourselves  at  the  edge  of  a  ravine, 
so  steep  that  we  had  not  observed  it  till  we  were  close 
on  it.  Every  small  brook,  fed  by  the  snowdrifts,  has  cut 
a  very  deep  canyon ;  the  sides  are  clad  with  thickets  of 
nire,  dense  as  a  hawthorn  hedge,  and  the  bottom  is 
filled  up  by  wretched  swamps.  But  we  must  go  down 
it.  The  horses  disappeared  in  the  thick  carpet,  the  loads 
were  caught  up  by  the  branches,  and  we  needed  all  our 


LAKE  BUENOS  AIRES  201 

energy  to  assemble  the  caravan  in  the  bottom  of  the 
ravine,  where  we  found  a  very  welcome  camping- place. 
The  next  morning  we  first  worked  our  way  out  of  the 
canyon,  and  stood  on  the  plateau  again  ready  to  recom- 
mence the  fight.  It  grew  still  worse  than  the  day 
before.  Not  even  the  patches  of  heath  bore  us;  the 
horses  strove  to  get  there,  only  to  find  them  occupied 
by  the  burrows  of  the  tuco-tuco.  Numerous  ravines 
had  to  be  crossed;  we  made  a  small  detour  higher  up 
on  the  meseta,  where  we  crossed  the  last,  or  rather  first, 
rivulets  on  snow-bridges,  at  a  height  of  4600  feet. 
It  was  ridiculous  to  see  the  horses'  fright  at  the  snow, 
hitherto  only  seen  from  some  distance.  They  required 
both  abuse  and  the  whip,  but  eventually  obeyed,  and 
that  was  the  principal  thing. 

Finally  we  stood  at  the  end  of  the  mesekt.  Three 
thousand  feet  below  extended  the  Koslowsky  valley, 
with  inviting  green  meadows;  on  the  other  side  was 
another  meseta,  and  to  our  right  was  the  main  range 
of  the  Andes,  blue  and  violet  in  the  pale  evening  light. 
Now  arose  the  question  of  getting  down  into  the  fine 
valley,  which  was  more  easily  said  than  done.  The  slope 
fell  away  perilously  near  a  right  angle.  It  was  furrowed 
by  numerous  rivulets,  hidden  under  entangled  nire 
thickets.  We  prospected  along  the  edge  of  the  plateau, 
and,  as  nothing  better  could  be  seen,  chose  the  least 
uninviting  of  the  ravines.  I  daresay  none  of  us  will 
ever  forget  that  descent.  Hardly  able  to  find  foothold, 
the  horses  simply  shd  down  the  slopes;  now  and  then 
one  fell,  but  got  on  his  feet  again;  another  broke  away, 
made  desperate  efforts  to  gallop  up  again,  and  then 


202  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

stopped  without  knowing  what  to  do.  I  do  not  remem- 
ber how  many  times  we  had  to  let  go  the  horses,  climb 
up  on  hands  and  knees,  and  drive  down  the  much- 
cursed  Ruckel,  but  I  know  he  tried  our  patience  to 
the  utmost.  Rather  shaken,  we  and  the  horses  even- 
tually reached  the  bottom  of  the  ravine.  The  slopes  were 
clad  with  forest- growth  and  were  very  steep,  and  our 
only  chance  was  to  follow  the  dry,  stony  river-bed, 
where  huge  blocks  sometimes  barred  the  way.  Thousands 
of  trunks  had  rolled  down  from  the  sides,  forming 
irregular  barricades  and  stopping  the  march  times 
innumerable.  The  horses  lost  their  senses,  rushed 
at  the  sides,  dashed  into  bHnd  alleys,  turned  round  and 
tried  to  get  back  up  the  canyon.  We  divided  the  troop 
up,  each  of  us  taking  charge  of  some  animals.  Step  by 
step  we  advanced,  giving  encouraging  shouts,  and  lash- 
ing and  chasing  fugitives,  who  baffled  all  our  efforts 
to  keep  order.  Here  indeed  was  a  good  opportunity 
for  Jeremias  to  distinguish  himself,  and  to  be  sure  he  did 
not  fail.  Lagging  behind  for  a  second,  he  took  advantage 
of  an  unguarded  moment,  turned  aside,  and  climbed 
up  through  the  forest  with  a  speed  and  energy  that  he 
never  showed  otherwise,  and  disappeared.  A  special 
expedition  was  sent  to  fetch  him  down — and  he  got  a 
well- deserved  thrashing.  I  had  always  suspected  that 
horses  have  not  got  much  real  inteUigence,  but  after 
studying  them  in  all  sorts  of  situations  I  hnow  that  they 
have  not. 

By- and- by,  when  the  slopes  became  less  steep  and  the 
forest  higher  and  less  dense,  we  took  refuge  in  it.  One 
of  us  acted  as  guide,  and  with  some  patience  one  could 


LAKE  BUENOS  AIRES  203 

get  the  yegua  to  follow;   then  it  was  the  business  of 
the  drivers  to  keep  the  others  together.     With  loud 
shouts  of  joy  we  greeted  the  open  ground — though  we 
could  easily  keep  from  laughing  when  we  discovered 
that  the  tuco-tuco  had  taken  possession  of  it.     At  some 
distance  a  large  animal  sprang  to  its  feet,  made  some 
cat-like  leaps,  and  was  out  of  sight.    Pagels  said  that 
it  was  a  puma  {Felis  concolor),  and  very  likely  it  was. 
The  puma,  here  generally  called  "  el  leon,"  is  the  largest   ' 
and  most  dangerous  of  the  carnivora  in  Patagonia. 
He  is  very  common,  but  seldom  seen,  keeping  out  of 
the  way  by  day.     He  does  not  assault  man  unless 
wounded,  but  takes  to  his  heels.     However,  he  is  the 
most  dreaded  enemy  of  the  sheep,  killing  them  not  only  ' 
for  food,  but  also  for  the  sport  of  it.     Often  he  returns 
to  his  prey,  and  advantage  is  taken  of  that  habit  to 
poison  the  carcass  with  strychnine,  and  the  next  day 
may  find  the  puma  only  a  few  yards  from  the  lamb. 
To  our  surprise  we  did  not  at  once  find  a  camping-place 
with  running  water;    several  of  the  rivulets  from  the 
meseta  disappeared  in  the  swamps  at  its  foot.     But 
finally  we  found  an  idylHc  little  place,  and  were  not  long 
in  ofi- saddling.    Both  we  and  the  horses  were  longing 
for  a  rest.  We  had  marched  ten  hours  without  stopping ; 
and  even  if  the  distance  did  not  much  exceed  twenty 
miles  we  did  not  feel  ashamed  of  the  result. 

It  proved  necessary  to  give  the  horses  a  day's  rest. 
For  us  these  days  were  no  rest;  generally  they  were 
employed  in  long  excursions  on  foot.  The  flora  of  the 
Koslowsky  valley  is  rich  in  species,  the  summer  had  now 
come,  and  a  lot  of  plants,  new  to  me,  were  in  full  flower. 


204  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

We  were  without  meat,  and  Quensel  went  to  look  for 
human  dwellings,  which  were  reported  as  existing  in 
the  valley,  while  Pagels  took  the  Winchester  and  went 
to  shoot  something.     In  the  evening  we  were  all  back 
in  the  camp,  each  with  his  prey.    Quensel  had  met  a 
mestizo,  who  led  him  to  his  ranclio  and  gave  him  meat. 
Pagels  returned  with  some  small  ducks  and  a  hen  eagle ; 
she  had  some  very  welcome  eggs  inside  her,  which  were 
dehghtful  in  the  soup.     We  had  had  a  very  meagre  diet 
the  last  few  days,  but  now  made  up  for  the  loss.    Quensel 
had  promised  the  people  in  the  rancJio  that  we  would 
visit  them  when  we  crossed  the  valley.     Their  miserable 
hut,  almost  a  veritable  toldo,  lay  hidden  in  a  valley 
— the  small  river  joins  Rio  Huemules,  which  in  its  turn 
discharges   into   Aysen.     The   husband,    Jose,    was  of 
mixed  breed,  half  Chilean,  half  Araucanian;    his  wife 
was  pure  Indian  and  had  been  a  real  beauty.     We  sat 
down  with  the  family;    evidently  we  were  expected, 
for  when  the  lid  was  taken  off  the  cauldron  it  was  found 
to  contain  rice-gruel.     As  far  as  I  know  I  never  showed 
any  predilection  for  this  dish  before,   and  to-day  it 
seems  peculiar  that  I  then  ate  three  platefuls  with 
great  gusto.  So  it  was,  however.   Jose  told  us  that  there 
was  quite  a  new  and  small  settlement  on  the  other  side 
of  the  valley,  and  gave  us  directions  for  our  march. 
After  a  while  we  came  to  a  cottage,  where  half  a  dozen 
sheep-dogs  rushed  out  barking  frantically  and  calling 
out   the   inhabitant.     He   was   an  EngHshman  called 
Brookes,  a  very  nice  man,  who  had  settled  with  about 
2000  sheep  and  seemed  to  enjoy  his  life  thoroughly. 
With  him  lived  also  a  Dane,  who  was  glad  to  find  his 


LAKE  BUENOS  AIRES  205 

native  tongue  for  once  understood.  Brookes  is  one  of 
the  few  camp- men  I  met  who  was  interested  in  nature ; 
he  started  to  speak  of  the  steppe  flora,  and  showed 
me  a  couple  of  rare  plants  that  he  had  in  his  garden. 
AVe  wanted  to  get  on  after  a  short  while,  but  the  kind 
souls  were  so  persistent  and  we  found  ourselves  so 
comfortable  that  we  resolved  to  stop  for  the  night, 
the  more  so  as  the  Dane,  Espersen,  ofiered  to  show  us 
the  best  pass  over  to  the  next  valley.  In  the  evening 
Mr.  Lundberg,  from  Kuopio,  in  Finland,  came  riding  in, 
and  invited  us  to  visit  his  place  further  west  in  the 
valley,  which  we  were  sorry  not  to  be  able  to  do.  His 
mother- tongue  was  Finnish;  once  he  had  also  spoken 
some  Swedish,  but  five-and-twenty  years  had  made  him 
forget  both  and  he  had  never  learnt  a  new  language 
thoroughly.  He  was  best  acquainted  with  English. 
His  case  is  not  unique,  I  am  sure. 

The  Koslowsky  valley  lies  only  a  thousand  feet  above 
the  sea  and  looks  fertile.  Probably  it  will  be  colonized 
before  long.  In  this  connection  the  following  story 
from  the  boundary  dispute  may  be  told.  According 
to  the  rule  that  water- divide  =  boundary,  this  valley 
would  have  gone  to  Chile  as  well  as  the  Aysen  district. 
But  Argentina  put  forth  the  following  impressive 
facts :  it  was  aheady  colonized  (there  was  a  scheme), 
one  could  point  to  the  Casa  Koslowsky  (a  wooden  hut) 
on  the  map,  and  last,  not  least,  there  was  a  photo  of  the 
telegraph-line  there — this  telegraph- Une  I  have  myself 
seen  on  more  than  one  Argentine  map.  At  the  house 
there  are  fourteen  telegraph-posts,  with  a  wire  coming 
from  nowhere  and  going  nowhere;   inside  is  apparatus 


206  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

that  never  spoke  and  piles  of  paper  strips  on  the  floor. 
By  the  award  Argentina  kept  all  the  valuable  part  of 
the  valley. 

It  was  December  8  when,  in  company  with  Mr. 
Espersen,  we  started  to  cross  the  pass  along  the  east  slope 
of  Meseta  Giienguel  and  descend  to  the  large  depression 
~j^  where  Lake  Buenos  Aires  extends — the  largest  of  the 
Patagonian  lakes.  It  was  an  agreeable  ride  in  bends 
and  turns  between  the  forest-patches.  The  rise  was  not 
so  bad  but  that  it  permitted  us  to  remain  on  horseback 
all  the  time,  and  at  3400  feet  we  reached  our  highest 
point;  from  there  we  beheld  the  vast  expanse  of  the 
lake,  with  blue  mountains  behind.  In  the  east  the  lake 
V^  reaches  the  pampas ;  the  western  arms  penetrate  far 
into  the  mountains,  as  far  as  the  edge  of  the  inland  ice, 
with  a  row  of  giant  summits  making  one  of  the  most 
•si  magnificent  pieces  of  scenery  of  Andine  landscape,  and 
culminating  in  the  two  peaks  San  Clemente  and  San 
Valentin,  the  latter  with  its  13,000  feet  being  the 
highest  mountain  in  Patagonia.  On  the  maps  as  well 
as  in  descriptions  these  mountains  are  often  called 
volcanoes,  but  there  is  no  foundation  for  such  a  desig- 
nation; probably  they  are  of  the  same  nature  as  San 
Lorenzo,  mentioned  below. 

Lake  Buenos  Aires  has  a  surface  area  of  about  800 
square  miles,  thus  being  almost  four  times  as  large 
as  the  Boden  lake.  We  were  sorry  not  to  have  a  boat, 
and  had  to  keep  along  the  shore.  The  lake  empties 
in  Kio  Baker ;  as  the  reader  will  remember,  we  were  close 
to  its  mouth  in  June.  We  camped  early  that  day. 
Quensel  and  Pagels  went  to  prepare  the  dinner  and  I 


LAKE  BUENOS  AIRES  207 

got  time  to  look  at  the  vegetation.  On  the  sandy 
banks  near  the  river  Fenix,  where  we  had  our  camp, 
I  found  quite  a  number  of  species  I  did  not  know,  of 
which  several  had  just  been  described  as  from  other 
parts  of  Patagonia.  Halle  continued  his  studies  in  the 
geology  of  the  table- mountains;  here  he  also  found  fossil 
plants. 

When  we  got  back  Quensel  had  baked  bread,  and 
other^vise  made  extensive  preparations  for  a  feast ;  that 
is  to  say,  he  had  boiled  a  potful  of  dried  figs,  all  in  order 
to  impress  our  guest,  who  stayed  for  the  night.  I 
suspect  that  he  had  been  used  to  far  better  kitchens 
than  om-s.  The  next  morning  we  parted;  he  went 
back  and  we  continued  along  the  Fenix  valley.  It 
was  as  if  midsummer  had  come  at  a  bound.  The  air 
was  oppressive,  the  sand  burnt,  the  horses  dripped  with 
sweat,  and  every  time  we  tracked  a  bend  of  the  river 
the  dogs  plunged  into  the  cold  water  to  cool  their  sore 
feet.  Rio  Fenix  winds  in  innumerable  serpentines, 
bordered  by  a  green  fringe ;  now  it  leaves  a  level  plateau 
free  at  the  foot  of  the  barranca,  now  it  cuts  so  close  into 
it  that  one  must  pass  with  caution. 

We  sit  half  dozing  in  the  saddle,  too  warmly  dressed 
for  a  day  Uke  this,  when  suddenly  there  is  a  stir.  Now 
and  then  we  have  passed  a  small  troop  of  guanacos, 
but  not  even  the  dogs  had  taken  any  interest  in  them. 
At  once  we  discover  that  they  have  young  ones  amongst 
them ;  the  dogs  are  after  them  and  there  is  a  wild  hunt. 
At  first  the  guanacos  gain,  the  small  ones  straining  every 
endeavour  to  keep  up  with  the  others,  and  they  show 
a  tremendous  tiurn  of  speed.    Now  one  falls  behind, 


208  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

the  gap  between  the  small  one  and  the  fleeing  herd 
widens ;  the  dogs  are  there :  now  it  is  for  us  to  interfere, 
or  they  will  tear  him  to  pieces  and  spoil  the  meat.  It 
is  a  very  pretty  little  thing,  about  a  fortnight  or  three 
weeks  old,  with  beautiful  wool  Uke  yellowish  red  silk 
on  the  back  and  with  a  white  belly.  In  triumph  it  is 
brought  to  the  caravan  and  added  to  the  load.  If  one 
can  call  the  meat  of  full-grown  guanaco  very  eatable, 
which  I  maintain  is  no  exaggeration,  that  of  the  young 
must  certainly  be  characterized  as  deUcious;  it  tastes 
like  the  finest  veal,  and  I  refuse  to  tell  how  much  we 
ate  the  first  time  we  had  it. 

Only  very  occasionally  is  the  guanaco  killed  for  the 
sake  of  its  meat;  on  the  whole  the  older  animals  are 
seldom  hunted,  but  the  younger  more  often.  Their  skin 
is  very  much  appreciated,  and  is  used  for  the  cele- 
brated quillangos  (mantles),  which  every  traveller  who 
passes  Punta  Arenas  or  any  of  the  small  ports  on  the 
Atlantic  is  able  to  procure.  Even  if  he  has  not  time  to 
go  on  shore  he  may  be  pretty  sure  they  will  come  on 
board ;  the  deck  is  soon  carpeted  with  products  in  the 
way  of  fur  from  Patagonia — guanaco  and  fox,  puma  and 
ostrich,  and  the  valuable  otter  from  the  Channels.  And 
every  passenger  steamer  brings  with  it  quite  a  collection 
of  skins  and  imitation  Indian  curiosities,  all  sold  at 
advanced  prices  for  the  occasion.  A  common  guanaco 
mantle  measm'es  ten  to  eleven  square  feet,  and  is  made  of 
from  thirteen  to  fifteen  young  animals.  In  Punta  Arenas 
it  costs  fifty  to  eighty  pesos,  according  to  the  exchange, 
for  in  reahty  one  has  to  pay  in  English  pounds  and 
shillings.    Another  kind  of  mantle  is  made  only  from 


LAKE  BUENOS  AIRES  209 

the  soft  skin  of  the  head  and  legs  of  the  full-grown 
guanaco ;  it  requires  a  very  great  number  of  animals, 
and  prices  run  high;  I  very  seldom  saw  these  offered 
for  sale.  The  beginning  of  December  is  the  season  for 
the  guanaco- hunters ;  they  swarm  in  certain  parts  of 
the  Andine  pampas,  and  for  the  most  part  do  a  thriving 
business.  We  saw  their  fires  on  the  north  slope  of  the 
Fenix  valley.  I  have  heard  there  are  some  game- 
laws  for  guanacos  and  ostriches,  but  they  are  probably 
ignored,  for  it  is  hardly  possible  to  maintain  any  effective 
control  in  the  vast  uninhabited  territories. 

Hardly  had  we  begun  to  move  again  when  the  next 
"  plucked  and  roasted  pigeon  flew  into  our  mouths." 
It  was  a  small  armadillo,  a  common  Dasypus  minutus. 
The  small  armoured  ball  rolled  away,  but  did  not  reach 
its  hole  before  we  had  it.  After  a  while  we  caught 
another.  These  animals  are  delicious  cooked  and  eaten 
cold,  or  roasted  in  their  hard  coats.  He  who  has  been 
lucky  enough  to  try  a  pig  roasted  whole  in  a  Scania  '^^ 
parsonage  can  imagine  what  an  armadillo  is  like.  Small 
baskets  made  of  varnished  armadillo,  with  its  tail  in  ■ 
its  mouth,  are  among  the  most  common  souvenirs 
brought  from  Argentina.  These  animals  belong  to  an 
order  that  in  ancient  times  played  an  important  part. 
The  surviving  species  are  dwarfs  in  comparison  with 
those  which  lived  on  the  pampas  during  the  Tertiary 
period,  true  giants,  the  armour  of  which  is  beautifully 
represented  in  the  collections  of  the  famous  Museo  de  La  , 
Plata. 

We  had  not  come  across  armadillos  till  we  came  to 
the  Fenix  valley ;    later  on  we  saw  them  at  times,  and 


210  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

they  never  had  time  to  get  clear,  since  we  knew  what 
they  were  good  for.  They  live  on  locusts  and  other 
insects,  and  to  judge  from  the  contents  of  their  stomachs 
there  is  no  lack  of  such. 

The  midday  sun  became  too  hot  for  us,  and  especially 
for  our  horses ;  nowhere  was  there  an  inch  of  shade,  but 
nevertheless  we  made  a  halt  at  the  river,  off- saddled, 
and  took  a  rest.  We  wanted  to  make  tea,  but  not  being 
used  to  the  great  heat  and  drought,  we  were  not  cautious 
enough  in  making  a  fire.  In  less  than  a  second  the  grass 
all  round  was  all  ablaze,  and  the  fire  rapidly  spread  with 
the  wind,  threatening  our  baggage,  which  was  instantly 
taken  out  of  reach  of  it,  though  not  without  some 
small  losses.  However,  we  had  to  isolate  it  without  delay, 
and  the  coffee-pot,  the  cauldron,  and  Quensel's  water- 
proof hat  sped  to  and  fro  from  the  river,  while  we  at 
the  same  time  tried  to  stamp  out  the  flaming  tussocks. 
After  an  hour's  work  the  danger,  which  might  have 
had  serious  consequences,  was  nipped  in  the  bud. 

Further  down  the  river  we  came  upon  a  sort  of  peculiar 
bush- vegetation,  well  worth  being  studied,  and  we  stayed 
there  the  next  day.  Accompanied  by  Halle,  I  strolled 
about  all  day,  and  went  back  loaded  with  specimens. 
The  bushes,  fine  species  of  Lycium,  Verbena,  and  others, 
were  in  full  flower  everywhere  in  the  hot  sand ;  beautiful 
yellow  flowers  of  Alstrcemeria  pygmcva  peeped  out,  as 
well  as  small  spiny  cactus  with  large  yellow,  red,  and 
white  blossoms.  I  had  to  find  out  a  method  of  con- 
veying the  prickly  things  with  me,  but  they  landed 
home  in  good  condition.  Between  the  tussocks  many- 
coloured  lizards  scurried  to  and  fro,  black  and  yellow, 


LAKE  BUENOS  AIRES  211 

brown  with  red  and  white  markings  or  with  a  copper 
histre — always  making  me  think  of  Pagels,  who  enter- 
tained an  inextinguishable  passion  for  these  animals. 
All  of  a  sudden  we  would  see  him  stop,  jump  from  his 
horse,  and  pursue  some  speedy  lizard,  that  often  was 
caught  in  his  cap,  to  be  afterwards  transferred  to  an  old 
pickle- bottle  he  carried  in  his  maletas.  The  bottle 
always  leaked,  and  when  he  looked  at  his  treasures 
Pagels  always  lamented:  "  Herr  Doktor,  jetzt  gehen 
meine  Eidechsen  voUkommen  kaputt !  " 
V  When  Quensel  and  Pagels,  who  had  been  out  doing 
geology  and  hunting,  returned  we  all  took  a  bath  in 
the  river.  The  hunting  had  yielded  poor  results; 
they  had  come  across  some  guanacos,  but  the  feet  of 
the  dogs  were  so  damaged  by  the  hot  sand  that  not 
even  the  young  could  attract  them.  By  the  river 
were  plenty  of  geese,  and  with  regret  we  thought  of  om- 
gun;  with  the  Winchester  we  got  only  a  scraggy 
gander. 

At  sunset  it  grew  rapidly  chilly,  and  the  thermometer 
fell  to  freezing-point,  32°  F.,  which  did  not  prevent  its  run- 
ning up  next  day  to  86°  F.  in  the  shade  again.  We  followed 
the  river  for  some  distance,  and  then  took  a  short  cut 
across  the  hilly  country  down  to  Lake  Buenos  Aires. 
Here  we  chanced  among  a  veritable  labyrinth  of  sand- 
dunes.  We  started  to  look  for  ostrich  eggs,  and  succeeded 
in  finding  two ;  unfortunately  they  were  addled._  Such 
eggs !  The  only  drawback  is  that  it  takes  twenty  minutes 
to  boil  them,  and  then  they  are  but  ligjitly  boiled.  The 
reason  we  did  not  follow  the  river  was  that  it  runs  east 
for  some  miles  before  turning  south,  and  finally  west, 


212  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

emptying  into  the  lake.  It  is  a  rather  peculiar  river. 
Just  east  of  its  bend  another  river,  the  Deseado,  starts 
from  a  swamp,  fed  by  occasional  tributaries  from  the 
north;  further  down  other  streams  join  it,  and  now 
visible,  now  disappearing  in  the  marshes,  it  runs  across 
Patagonia  and  discharges  into  the  Atlantic.  The 
water-parting  between  Deseado  and  Fenix — i.e.^  between 
the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific — is  very  insignificant.  Eio 
Fenix  has  only  just  abandoned  its  old  course  to  the 
Atlantic,  and  it  was  possible  for  Dr.  Moreno  to  remove 
some  of  the  morainic  material  and  coax  it  back  for  a 
while.  Even  now  it  sometimes  sends  water  to  Rio 
Deseado. 

At  the  east  end  of  the  lake  there  is  almost  a  desert — 
dry,  stony  plains  where  the  few  plants  look  like  monsters, 
to  such  a  degree  have  they  adapted  themselves  to  an 
abnormal  life.  One  is  agreeably  surprised  when  suddenly 
the  canyon  of  Fenix  river  opens  at  one's  feet;  there 
is  luscious  green  grass;  the  horses  betray  deHght  at 
this  sight,  and  it  is  easier  than  usual  to  drive  them  down 
the  steep  barranca.  We  made  our  camp  not  far  from 
the  outlet  of  the  river,  where  traces  of  one  of  the  encamp- 
ments of  the  Boundary  Commission  still  remained. 

Our  supply  of  meat  was  finished,  the  dogs  had  to  live 
on  their  own  fat — not  much  to  speak  of — and  we  made 
inroads  upon  our  poor  vegetables. 

A  cool  breeze  from  the  lake  welcomed  us  as  we  rode 
out  of  the  canyon  to  go  round  the  east  end  of  the  big 
water,  and  the  waves  broke  in  over  the  shingle,  which 
was  adorned  by  large-flowered  yellow  Oenotheras.  I 
have  seldom  seen  anything  more  inanimate  than  nature 


LAKE  BUENOS  AIRES  213 

here.  There  was  not  a  bii-d  to  be  seen  on  the  water, 
not  an  animal  in  the  ravmes  running  down  to  the  shore 
from  the  south;  here  and  there  white  guanaco  bonea 
gleamed  in  the  bushes,  but  not  a  living  thing  was  to  be 
seen.  We  made  a  halt  in  the  canyon  of  Rio  Chilcas 
and  camped.  A  rumour  had  spoken  of  fossils  having 
been  found  there.  Quensel  and  Halle  were  busy- 
looking  for  them;  I  myself  spent  the  time  as  usual, 
and  Pagels  tried  to  replenish  oiu:  pantry,  but  he  returned 
empty-handed,  and  supper  was  identical  with  breakfast 
— pancakes  of  wheat-flour  and  water ! 

On  the  north  shore  of  the  lake  there  is  a  small  settle- 
ment that  we  did  not  see ;  otherwise  the  whole  region 
is  uninhabited,  in  spite  of  the  good  grass  along  Fenix 
and  south  of  the  lake,  which  Hes  only  712  feet  above 
sea- level,  for  which  reason  the  winters  cannot  be  very 
severe.  An  abandoned  rancho  not  far  from  the  Chilcas 
valley  showed  that  people  have  lived  here  for  some  time. 
The  geologists'  efiorts  proved  futile,  which  did  not 
surprise  them;  the  kind  of  rock  was  not  promising 
for  the  discovery  of  fossil  remains,  and  we  resolved  to 
leave  the  place  and  move  our  camp  to  Rio  Jeinemeni, 
which  we  were  to  follow  to  a  pass  across  the  moujitains. 
We  left  the  lake,  but  enjoyed  a  last  sight  of  it,  following 
the  shore  at  some  distance,  and  higher  up  making  for 
Rio  de  los  Antiguos,  which  runs  parallel  with  Rio 
Jeinemeni,  and  the  canyon  of  which  we  should  have  to 
cross.  We  rested  an  hour  near  some  lagoons,  and  in  vain 
tried  to  get  some  birds — there  were  numbers  of  black- 
necked  swans  and  ducks,  but  the  swans  kept  far  off 
fr-om  the  shore  and  the  ducks  hid  themselves  in  the 


214  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

reeds.  At  random  we  cut  across  a  plateau  to  reach 
the  river,  and  there  we  had  a  narrow  escape.  Arrived 
at  the  edge  of  the  canyon,  we  saw  the  river  whirhng 
below,  and  the  barranca  was  about  450  feet  high.  How 
were  we  to  get  down  ?  A  safe  method  would  have  been 
to  follow  the  river  down  and  cross  it  near  the  mouth, 
as  we  could  see  from  the  map  that  it  must  be  more 
fordable  there;  however,  this  meant  loss  of  time  and 
did  not  suit  us.  We  experienced  the  truth  of  the  pro- 
verb "  More  haste  less  speed."  We  rode  to  a  point 
from  where  we  got  a  view  up  the  valley,  but  nowhere 
could  we  see  a  passage;  all  along  the  barranca  fell 
away  almost  vertically.  Just  below  our  feet,  however, 
was  a  sandy  slope  with  some  bushes,  falling  off  at  an 
angle  of  45°;  what  came  after  we  could  not  see,  the 
rest  of  the  barranca  being  too  steep  to  be  visible  from 
where  we  were.  But  Pagels  assured  us  that  he  could 
see  a  "  very  good  place,"  and  we  started  to  slide  down. 
It  went  all  right  for  a  while,  though  it  was,  of  course, 
some  time  before  we  got  the  horses  to  understand  what 
a  fine  way  we  had  found  for  them.  Our  delight  was 
of  short  duration;  after  a  few  minutes  we  found  our- 
selves at  the  top  of  a  hard,  nearly  vertical  sandstone 
wall  without  the  slightest  trace  of  vegetation.  To  turn 
back  was  out  of  the  question.  Fortimately  the  mountain 
here  is  furrowed  by  small  streams  during  the  spring 
floods,  and  there  was  nothing  to  be  done  but  climb  down 
one  of  the  ravines,  where  stones  and  loose  blocks, 
plunging  down  at  the  slightest  touch,  made  the  descent 
very  risky.  We  had  hard  work  to  force  the  horses  down 
the  ravine.     It  was  so   narrow  (the  section  was  V- 


Femx  River. 


X'ai.i.kv  (ik  .\Nii(.ro>  Ri\KK  i.ookim;  ^ou  i  h. 


LAKE  BUENOS  AIRES  215 

shaped)  that  we  had  to  crawl  in  single  file.   Repeatedly 
a  horse  would  dash  at  the  sides;    instantly  he  had  to 
be  driven  back,  or  he  went  to  certain  death.     Step  by 
step   they  were  literally  whipped  down,   sliding  and 
falling,    stumbhng  on  treacherous   blocks;     the   whip 
brought  them  to  their  feet  again,  and  one  after  the  other 
landed  safely  in  the  thickets  at  the  foot  of  the  barranca. 
Pagels  had  remained  behind  to  look  for  Ruckel,  who  on 
this  day  was  carrying  tent  and  provisions;    he  had 
refused  to  come  with  the  other  horses,  and  disappeared 
in  the  bushes  to  find  his  own  private  way  down.     Quensel 
and  Halle  climbed  up  to  see  what  was  going  forward,  but 
I  found  waiting  tiresome,  tied  the  horses,  and  climbed 
the  wall  following  another  ravine.     I  had  come  half- 
way when  I  stopped  and  shouted,  but  did  not  get  any 
answer.     I  could  see  nothing;     climbed  down  again 
and  walked  along  the  foot,  and  suddenly  a  dreadful 
sight  met  my  eyes.    Half-way  up  the  wall,  at  the  end  of 
a  small  ravine  ending  abruptly,  stood  Ruckel,  with  his 
load  hanging  loose,   his  legs  entangled  in  the  ropes, 
trembling  from  head  to  foot,  and  without  the  most 
microscopical  chance  of  getting  up  or  down,  to  right 
or   left.     Straight  above  him  on  the   slope  were  my 
comrades.     How  had  he  got  there  ?     He  had  fallen, 
tumbled  down  sideways  with  load  and  all,  rolled  about 
90  feet,  and  was  lucky  to  recover  his  foothold  at  the  very 
last  moment;    another  inch  and  he  would  have  been 
dashed  to  pieces.    Halle  and  Quensel  had  seen  him  fall, 
and  hastened  up  to  end  his  sufferings  with  a  merciful 
bullet ;     to   their   immense   surprise   they   found   him 
standing  upright.     The  small  space  where  he  was  able 


216  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

to  keep  on  his  feet  sloped  down;    at  any  moment  his 
strength  might  give  out  and  he  would  be  precipitated 
down  and  probably  killed,  for  below  him  the  barranca 
sloped  inward.     There   seemed   nothing   to   be   done. 
I  climbed  up  till  I  stood  under  him ;   the  ropes  were  cut 
and  the  things  lowered  down  to  me,  and  I  carried  them 
down.     As  far  as  we  could  see  the  beast  was  not  much 
injured,  and  w^as  only  bleeding  very  little,  so  we  of  course 
wanted  to  save  him.     Just  below  him,  to  the  left,  a 
small  ridge   protruded;    could  we  get  him  across  it, 
there  was  a  small  ravine  leading  down.     Lying  on  his 
stomach  and  cUnging  to  the  projections  on  the  rock 
in  a  manner  hardly  believable,  Pagels  dug  some  steps 
in  the  sandstone  with  my  sheath- knife,  Ruckel  regarding 
him  immovable  as  the  Sphinx.     Pagels  crept  down, 
tugged    at    the  mhresta — well,    I   hardly  know  what 
happened ;    some  rapid  steps  haH  in  the  air,  an  instant 
he  lay  floundering  and  kicking  with  his  belly  across  the 
ridge,  then  was  dragged  into  the  ravine  and  saved! 
Rubber  must  have  gone  to  the  construction  of  a  good 
deal  of  his  body,  for  the  following  morning  he  was  not 
even  lame.    Ruckel  had  celebrated  Lucia  Day  in  his  own 
original  way,  and  now  we  could  laugh  at  the  adventure. 
When  we  looked  at  the  barranca  from  below  we  could 
hardly  believe  that  we  had  come  down  there.     The  affair 
had  cost  time,  and  we  saw  ourselves  forced  to  camp  at 
Rio  Antiguos,  where  another  unsuccessful  shoot  forced 
us  to  continue  our  pancake  diet  and  the  dogs  to  go  with 
empty  stomachs. 

We  were  off  early  the  next  morning,  for  we  wanted 
to  cross  the  river  when  there  was  not  so  much  water  as 


LAKE  BUENOS  AIEES  217 

later  iii  the  day.  It  was  easier  to  climb  out  of  the  canyon 
than  it  had  been  to  get  into  it,  and  so  we  went  on  to 
Eio  Jeinemeni.  This  river  is  the  frontier  between 
Chile  and  Argentina.  We  thought  the  best  way  to  the 
pass  would  be  to  follow  the  bank  of  the  river,  and 
therefore  cHmbed  down  into  the  magnificent  canyon. 
There  was  a  stony  strip  of  land  along  the  water  where 
we  could  ride,  but  owing  to  the  innumerable  turns  one 
could  not  look  ahead  for  more  than  a  very  short  distance 
at  a  time.  We  had  not  been  under  way  long  before  we 
had  to  alight  and  lead  the  horses.  Now  the  barranca 
sent  sharp  ridges  out  in  the  water,  where  a  false  step 
would  have  been  fatal;  now  we  came  across  heaps  of 
blocks  and  debris  fallen  down  from  the  wall,  now  deep 
ravines,  to  get  across  which  one  almost  needed  trained 
circus  horses;  if  one  risked  remaining  in  the  saddle, 
one  hardly  escaped  getting  literally  torn  ofi  by  the 
tough  nire  branches.  We  sent  Pagels  ahead  to  signal 
if  any  serious  obstacle  appeared.  All  of  a  sudden  a 
barranca  ran  almost  vertically  down  into  the  river, 
leaving  a  passage  about  two  or  three  feet  broad.  Some 
bushes  increased  the  difficulties.  Steady !  The  mare 
looks  at  the  water,  but  it  does  not  seem  very  inviting. 
Then  she  throws  a  glance  full  of  unsatisfied  desire  to- 
wards the  sky,  but  90°  was  evidently  too  much  for  her, 
and  anxiously  squinting  at  last  she  wallas  the  right  way, 
followed  by  the  other  party  in  single  file.  Suddenly 
full  stop !  Pagels  has  stopped  to  clear  away  some 
bushes ;  we  shout  to  him  to  hurry  up,  but  it  is  already 
too  late.  Jeremias  has  taken  the  lead.  With  firm 
resolution  he  turns  right,  crosses  a  branch  of  the  river, 


218  THE  AVILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

and  lands  on  a  sandbank,  where  he  stops  looking  more 

stupid  than  ever.     Evidently  the  mare  finds  his  idea 

brilHant,  and  plunges  after  him,  and  the  other  loose  horses 

are  not  behindhand  in  following  their  example.     We 

caught  one  of  the  packhorses  before  he  had  time  to 

carry  his  evil  plans  into  execution;    but  the  other, 

Manasse,  was  already  in  the  middle  of  the  rapid  stream, 

and  with  mixed  feehngs  we  saw  the  water  washing  his 

load.     Fortunately  he  carried  the  cases.     There  was 

no  time  for  cogitation;    once  out  in  the  main  branch 

Manasse     would     probably     have     perished.     Pagels 

hastened  after  the  fugitives  and  brought  them  back. 

It  was  a  narrow  escape ;  we  might  have  lost  valuable 

collections,  journals,  and  note- books.     The  going  was 

wretched,  but  we  continued  up  the  river  till  the  barranca 

made  further  progress  absolutely  impossible.  We  climbed 

up  about  a   thousand  feet  to  try  if  it  was  not  better 

up  there.     Pagels  was  sent  ahead  with  the  Winchester, 

and  a  deer  really  came  within  range;    however,  the 

distance  was  great,  and  though  hit  the  animal  did  not 

drop,  but  rushed  down  the  slope  and  fled  into  Chile — 

that  is  to  say,  he  swam  over  the  river,  where  he  fell  down 

dead.     The  dogs  rushed  after  him,  threw  themselves 

into  the  water,  the  current  took  them,  and  they  were 

hardly  able  to  reach  the  shore.     We  did  not  know 

if  there  was  any  ford ;  at  this  hoiu:  of  the  day  the  river 

looked  hke  boiling  mud,  and  it  was  not  without  risk 

to  try  to  wade  it.     However,  Quensel,  on  Flax,  the  most 

rehable  of  our  horses,  offered  to  try,  and  Halle  and  I 

drove  the  troop  to  a  suitable  halting- place.     Pagels 

stopped  at  the  river  to  help  Quensel.     Half  an  hour 


LAKE  BUENOS  AIRES  219 

passed,  one  hoiir — we  began  to  get  anxious  and  walked 
do^vn  the  slope,  and  were  glad  indeed  to  meet  them. 
Flax  carrying  a  pair  of  substantial  deer- steaks  on  the 
saddle.  Quensel  had  got  a  bath  in  the  river  and  had 
had  a  narrow  escape ;  he  declared  that  with  any  other 
horse  he  would  not  have  been  successful.  "  You  will 
never  see  Pavo  any  more,"  he  added.  We  were  very 
sorry  at  the  loss  of  the  dog,  but  at  the  same  time  glad 
that  nothing  worse  had  happened — and  our  sorrow  did 
not  last  long,  for  whom  did  we  see  after  a  while,  lumber- 
ing up  the  slope,  but  Pavo,  exhausted  and  dripping  with 
water. 

It  had  grown  late.  Quensel' s  clothes  were  soaked,  and 
we  resolved  to  camp  on  the  spot,  in  spite  of  the  fuel 
being  very  scarce  and  the  water  bad.  We  had  to  fetch 
it  from  a  small  pond  so  full  of  tiny  crustaceans  that  it 
turned  quite  red  when  boiled.  We  had  a  great  feast 
of  venison,  and  both  ourselves  and  the  dogs  enjoyed 
a  hearty  meal.  We  also  found  timie  to  prospect  for 
the  next  day,  and  saw  that  we  must  keep  high  above 
the  river;  it  was  a  mistake  ever  to  try  the  bottom  of 
the  canyon.  We  resumed  at  a  height  of  from  2200  to 
3000  feet;  it  turned  out  all  right,  and  we  camped  at 
Rio  Zeballos,  at  3300  feet,  the  largest  tributary  to 
Jeinemeni,  in  the  most  inviting,  dry,  fragrant  roble- 
forest.  We  had  a  cold  night  and  there  was  thick  ice 
in  the  coffee- pot  when  we  rose.  The  horses  enjoyed 
the  fresh  mountain  pasturage,  and  Quensel  and  I 
employed  the  day  in  an  excursion  on  foot  up  into  the 
mountains.  We  soon  found  a  guanaco- track  that  we 
could  follow  for  more  than  a  thousand  feet.    Now  and 


220  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

then  a  guanaco  was  seen,  and  once  we  sat  down  and 
remained  immovable,  I  with  the  camera.  Making 
smaller  and  smaller  circles,  one  approached,  stopped  now 
and  then,  gave  a  neigh  and  pricked  up  his  ears.  He 
felt  some  anxiety,  but  ciu:iosity  overcame  it,  and  I 
snapped  him  from  about  a  hundred  feet.  Later  we  tried 
the  same  manoeuvre  with  a  fat  deer,  but  I  wanted  to 
get  closer,  and  he  was  frightened  and  made  off.  Above 
the  forests  we  climbed  over  rattUng  heaps  of  loose 
slates;  numbers  of  charming  Alpine  plants  were  in 
flower  among  debris  and  snowfields,  and  from  a  crest 
of  5700  feet  we  had  a  splendid  view :  to  the  east  the 
mighty  basalt- covered  meseta  ;  to  the  north  we  cast  a 
last  glance  at  Lake  Buenos  Aires,  where  the  smoke  from 
the  guanaco- hunters'  camp  was  still  visible;  to  the 
west  deep,  forest- clad  valleys  and  summits,  not  yet 
found  on  any  map ;  to  the  south  the  Zeballos  pass,  our 
battlefield  for  the  coming  day.  We  felt  monarchs  up 
here,  as  if  these  immense  Alps,  the  snowdrifts,  flowers 
and  noble  animals  were  our  property.  Never  is  the 
sense  of  freedom  greater  than  in  the  high  mountain  air 
with  a  good  expanse  of  the  earth  below  one's  feet.  Down 
we  went,  faster  than  we  had  come  up ;  we  sUd  down  the 
steep,  loose  heaps  of  stones,  half  ran  through  the 
mountain  swamps  where  red- brown  geese  had  their  nests, 
and  dived  into  the  forest.  Only  Pavo  was  in  the  camp 
when  we  arrived  there.  Later  Pagels  arrived  with  some 
guanaco -meat ;  he  had  been  on  the  meseta  where  our 
way  led,  and  said  that  he  had  surveyed  a  beautiful  track 
for  the  march.  We  received  this  not  uncommon  infor- 
mation with  equanimity,  born  of  long  experience. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

LAGO  BELGRANO 

On  December  17  we  crossed  Rio  Zeballos  and  climbed 
the  east  side  of  the  valley.  Pagels  was  very  proud  of 
the  route  he  had  planned,  but  his  self-importance  began 
to  diminish  when  we  came  to  one  swamp  after  the  other 
and  had  to  go  round  them.  The  small  streams  were 
numerous,  and  had,  of  course,  cut  deep  ravines,  over 
which  we  could  hardly  force  a  way  between  blocks  and 
thickets;  at  one  place  we  had  to  be  very  careful,  but 
the  horses  managed  it  very  well  indeed.  The  ascent 
up  to  the  pass  was  better  than  we  had  been  used  to, 
and  we  reached  the  highest  point  at  5000  feet.  Large 
snowdrifts  were  still  left,  and  the  ground  was  very  soft. 
Round  the  pass  are  several  well-marked  peaks  looking 
like  sentinels,  one  of  them  also  bearing  the  name  of 
Cerro  Centinela.  Our  way  down  was  longer  and  gave 
us  more  trouble  than  we  had  counted  upon ;  we  had  been 
in  the  saddle  ten  hours  before  we  saw  the  first  few  bushes 
and  could  obtain  a  little  shelter  behind  some  rocks  at 
the  bend  of  Rio  Gio,  close  to  the  Chilean  frontier.  The 
weather  had  turned  out  stormy,  and  a  strong  wind 
blew,  making  it  rather  difficult  to  cook  the  dimier,  while 
the  rain  pelted  down  as  it  can  only  pelt  in  Chile. 

Our  original  plan  for  the  summer  had  also  included 
a  visit  to  the  estcmcia  of  the  Baker  Company,  whereby 

221 


222  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

we  should  get  anotlier  section  tkrougli  the  mountains ; 
but  in  consideration  of  the  little  time  we  had  and  the 
scarcity  of  provisions  we  gave  it  up  and  rode  straight 
south,  seeking  our  way  through  the  winding  valleys 
down  towards  Lake  Pueyrredon,  where  we  camped  in  the 
last  forest- patch  on  the  slope  of  Cerro  Principio.  The 
dogs  had  just  captured  a  fine  young  guanaco,  and  we 
made  a  big  fire  of  nire  branches.  The  fire  was  indeed 
necessary,  for  it  was  cold  and  snowy. 

The  landscape  north  of  Lake  Pueyrredon  is  peculiar 
enough — an  endless  row  of  canyons  cut  down  along 
old  cracks,  crossing  each  other  in  all  directions  or  ending 
blind.  Sometimes  one  could  not  see  a  hundred  feet  ahead, 
and  one  of  us  always  had  to  ride  in  advance  and  survey 
the  ground,  otherwise  the  caravan  would  have  found 
itself  suddenly  in  a  cul-de-sac.  Often  we  passed  half- 
dried  or  even  dried- up  salt- lagoons.  Guanacos  were 
plentiful,  and  from  a  side  valley  a  hind  with  her  young 
quizzed  us,  but  soon  disappeared  when  the  dogs  started 
in  chase.  On  the  shore  of  the  lake  were  many  geological 
features  reminding  one  of  the  west  coast  of  Sweden 
— the  same  round,  ice- polished  rocks  with  beautiful 
glacial  striae,  showing  that  the  basin  of  Pueyrredon- 
Posadas  was  once  filled  by  an  immense  glacier.  Seen 
from  above  these  lakes  present  a  very  remarkable 
appearance.  A  narrow  neck  of  land,  where  high  sand- 
dunes  are  piled  up  by  the  frequent  westerly  gales, 
separates  them;  the  more  shallow  Posadas  looks 
bluish  green,  the  Pueyrredon  dark  blue.  According  to 
the  Argentine  maps.  Lake  Posadas  lies  367  feet,  Lake 
Pueyrredon  364  feet  above  the  sea- level;    the  former 


LAGO  BELGRANO  223 

empties  into  the  latter  by  means  of  a  short,  deep,  rapid 
river,  which  in  our  journals  is  called  Rio  del  Istmo. 
The  outlet  of  Lake  Pueyrredon  is  Rio  Baker. 

It  is  not  possible  to  wade  the  river — that  is  to  say, 
with  packhorses.  However,  there  is  a  ford  outside 
the  mouth  in  Lake  Pueyrredon,  where  a  sandbank  has 
been  formed  over  which  the  waves  break  heavily  when 
there  is  a  high  sea.  It  runs  in  an  irregular  bend,  and 
it  is  far  from  advisable  to  leave  the  horses  to  them- 
selves in  crossing.  The  evening  we  came  to  the  ford 
it  looked  bad,  for  there  had  been  a  gale  of  wind  all  day 
and  the  surf  was  heavy,  but  we  were  not  at  all  inclined 
to  put  ofi  the  passage.  The  soil  is  very  barren  here; 
there  are  some  bushes  and  halophilous  plants,  but  not 
much  grass;  we  were  afraid  that  the  horses  would 
wander  all  night,  and  could  hardly  imagine  a  worse  place 
than  this  for  looking  for  them.  For  safety's  sake 
we  put  maneas  not  only  on  the  mare,  but  also  on  the 
roisterer  Vingel,  who  often  led  her  and  the  rest  of  the 
troop  into  forbidden  ways,  and  then  sat  down  round  a 
big  blaze  of  driftwood.  We  had  found  half  a  dozen 
duck's  eggs,  and  were  greatly  disappointed  to  find  that 
they  had  been  sat  on;  however,  we  could  not  bring 
ourselves  to  throw  them  away  altogether,  but  took  out 
the  chicken  and  used  the  rest  of  the  yolk  in  the  pan- 
cakes. Don't  throw  away  an  egg  till  the  chicken  has 
absorbed  it  all — it  is  always  good  for  something. 

The  murmur  from  the  sea  increased  at  dawn,  and 
when  we  had  brought  the  horses  down  among  the  heaps 
of  driftwood  we  saw  that  the  surf  was  at  least  as  bad  as 
the  day  before.    Nevertheless  we  made  up  our  minds 


224  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

to  try,  leading  the  packhorses.  Certainly  they  did  not 
plunge  into  the  water  willingly,  but  were  very  frightened 
at  the  thunder  of  the  breakers,  and  it  cost  us  much 
trouble  and  the  horses  sore  hides.  Everything  went 
off  all  right,  though  we  of  course  got  wet  and  the  loads 
also  received  some  showers.  We  had  just  waded  in 
water,  now  we  had  to  flounder  in  sand  along  the  sides 
of  the  dunes;  sometimes  they  were  so  steep  that  we 
preferred  to  plunge  through  the  shallow  reeds  of  Lake 
Posadas.  The  southern  shore  is  very  different  from 
the  northern.  The  mountain  here  rises  straight  out 
of  the  water  to  a  giddy  height  as  seen  from  below. 
One  feels  oppressed,  shut  in  on  a  narrow,  stony  strip 
of  land,  where  a  stream  coming  from  a  deep  canyon  has 
split  up  into  an  extensive  delta,  and  one  even  wonders 
how  one  shall  get  out  again.  There  is  only  one  answer : 
Climb! 

Halle  fell  behind  in  order  to  survey  the  canyon, 
where  different  strata  were  well  exposed,  and  the  rest 
of  us  cHmbed  2200  feet  in  zigzag,  and  sometimes  not 
only  the  horses  were  four- legged !  On  the  plateau  we 
halted  and  waited  for  Halle.  Then  we  crawled  along  a 
very  steep,  stony  ridge  separated  by  a  jagged  crest 
from  the  valley  of  Eio  Tarde,  through  a  natural  opening 
at  3600  feet  coming  do^vn  into  this  valley.  The  land- 
scape was  very  desolate — yellowish- grey  rocks  cut  by 
innumerable  ravines  not  marked  on  the  map,  and  much 
worse  to  cross  than  big  valleys.  The  patches  of  vegeta- 
tion were  swampy,  and  it  promised  ill  for  the  night, 
till  suddenly,  a  couple  of  miles  ahead,  some  forest- 
groves  were  seen — evidently  the  most  easterly  in  this 


LAGO  BELGRANO  225 

part  of  the  country.  They  lay  beside  a  tributary  of 
Rio  Tarde  and  we  soon  had  a  roof  of  foliage,  dry  leaves 
to  sleep  on,  a  grassy  slope  below  for  the  horses,  a  bank 
of  fossil  oysters  close  to  and  snowy  mountains  all 
round.  What  more  could  we  ask  ?  Here  was  every- 
thing. Some  rusty  tins  showed  that  the  place  had  been 
used  as  a  camp  before;  surely  they  had  been  left  by 
the  Argentine  Boundary  Commission,  for  one  of  them 
had  contained  preserved  asparagus. 

We  stayed  here  one  day  in  order  to  give  the  horses 
a  chance  to  recruit  their  strength  for  the  march  across 
the  next  mountain- pass.  As  our  next  goal  we  set  our- 
selves nothing  less  than  Lago  Belgrano  itself,  and  indeed 
actually  got  off  before  eight  o'  clock.  Now  the  reader  will 
think  us  a  band  of  real  sluggards,  but  I  must  protest 
against  such  an  idea,  for  as  a  rule  we  never  rose  later 
than  six  o'clock  unless  we  had  gone  to  rest  quite  exhausted 
the  night  before,  and  very  often  it  was  only  five  o'clock 
when  we  crept  out  of  our  bags.  But  all  the  work  that 
had  to  be  done  before  we  could  spring  into  oiu:  saddles 
took  much  time.  We  had  carefully  studied  the  map 
and  chose  another  route  than  the  one  followed  by  the 
engineers  of  the  commission,  to  some  extent  shortening 
the  distance.  It  was  wild  and  desolate  up  here  at  a 
height  of  5600  feet,  gigantic  basalt  pillars  lifted  their 
hard  black  bodies  on  both  sides,  and  large  snowdrifts 
fed  the  boggy,  sliding  soil.  The  slopes,  nearly  without 
vegetation  of  any  kind  save  some  monstrous  plants  in 
the  shape  of  compact  balls,  are  coloured  red,  brown  and 
grey,  and  Rio  Belgrano  rises  like  a  red- brown  mud- 
puddle.     A  chilly  fog  enveloped  us  and  shut  out  the 


226  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

view;  only  the  nearest  mountain,  the  fine  Cerrc 
Belgrano  (7500  feet)  being  visible,  cutting  the  vei 
with  its  worn  peaks.  The  pass  fell  abruptly  on  the  othei 
side  making  us  hesitate  for  a  moment.  The  rivei 
makes  innumerable  turns  and  bends,  from  all  directions 
tributaries  flow  in ;  we  saw  no  other  way  than  to  keej 
to  the  bottom,  every  five  minutes  crossing  the  rivei 
in  order  to  take  advantage  of  the  narrow  strips  o: 
muddy  shore  separating  the  barranca  from  the  water 
We  made  very  slow  progress,  the  horses  were  tired  anc 
often  refused  to  cross  the  stream,  but  nevertheless 
we  should  have  reached  the  lake  if  fate  had  not  led  us  tc 
arrange  a  great  Christmas  slaughter. 

We  wrote  December  22  in  oiu:  joiu?nals  and  hac 
hardly  a  piece  of  meat  in  the  pantry.  We  had  jusi 
crossed  the  river  and  were  about  to  round  a  hill,  separat- 
ing us  from  the  Belgrano  basin,  when  we  caught  sight  o: 
four  deer,  two  bucks  with  their  hinds  steadily  regarding 
us  and  shaking  their  little  stumps  of  tail  as  they  utterec 
their  peculiar  cooing  note.  We  tied  the  dogs  up  anc 
approached  them  with  great  caution.  One  of  the 
bucks  was  badly  wounded  by  a  bullet,  but  nevertheless 
rushed  down  the  slope  at  full  speed,  the  other  got  s 
broken  shoulder  and  did  not  move.  We  went  up  to  hin 
but  he  stood  quite  still  looking  at  us  with  his  large, 
intelligent  eyes,  the  blood  slowly  dripping  down  on  the 
flowers  of  the  heath.  We  wanted  to  give  him  his 
cowp  de  grace,  but  in  spite  of  one  bullet  in  the  head  and 
one  in  the  chest,  he  suddenly  showed  a  spark  of  life 
and  rushed  down  to  the  water.  We  let  the  dogs  loose 
but  instead  of  making  for  the  wounded  bucks  they 


The  Belgkano  Pass,  with  giant  basalt  rn.i.AKS. 


West  Arm  oe  Laki    I'.i.I'.kam 


LAGO  BELGRANO  227 

brought  one  of  the  hinds  to  bay  at  the  river  and  Pavo 
buried  his  teeth  in  her  throat.  As  a  rule  we  only  killed 
bucks,  but  of  course  had  to  kill  the  hind  in  this  case. 
Now  we  had  to  look  for  the  bucks.  Pagels  and  I  went 
down  to  the  river  where  one  of  the  bucks,  wild  with  rage, 
lay  struggHng  with  Pavo,  who  had  bitten  him ;  we  let  the 
river  carry  him  down  to  a  place  where  it  was  possible 
to  land  him.  It  was  resolved  to  camp  close  by,  and  a 
horse  carried  down  the  meat  of  this  buck.  Pagels  and 
Quensel  went  to  take  charge  of  the  rest.  The  buck  still 
lived  and  butted  round  him ;  he  hit  Pagels  and  knocked 
the  knife  (my  bowie-knife)  out  of  his  hand  into  the  river, 
where  it  disappeared  for  ever.  At  nightfall  we  had 
finished  the  bloody  work ;  we  had  two  hundred  pounds 
of  good  meat,  more  than  sufficient  for  our  stay  at  Lake 
Belgrano. 

In  the  morning  we  rode  down  to  the  lake.  The 
horses  had  very  heavy  loads,  but  the  road  was  only 
nine  and  a  half  miles  long  and,  with  the  exception  of 
some  swamps  round  the  west  arm  of  Rio  Belgrano, 
easy  enough.  Just  as  we  came  down  the  last  slope 
we  discovered  the  tracks  of  shod  horses.  People  here  ? 
Some  expedition  perhaps,  looking  for  a  camp  ?  Now 
two  parallel  lines  appear;  there  is  no  doubt  that  a 
cart-track  leads  down  to  the  lake.  And  when  the 
view  opened  out  with  the  glasses  we  could  make  out  a 
tent,  horses  and  men.  It  was  almost  a  disappoint- 
ment— had  civiUzation  reached  this  last  great  tract 
of  Patagonia  ?  "  And  I,  who  hoped  that  we  should 
celebrate  Christmas  by  ourselves,"  said  Halle  with  a 
worried  air. 


228  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

The  peninsula  had  been  shut  of!  by  a  fence  and  we 
proceeded  through  a  gate,  the  "  strangers "  gathering 
in  front  of  their  tent.     We  alighted  and  walked  to  greet 
them.     Their  appearance  plainly  told  us,   that  they 
were  not  children  of  the  country,  but  "  gringos,"  and 
we  asked  them  if  they  spoke  English  or  German.     "  Wir 
Bind  deutsche  Kolonisten,  und  Sie  ?  "     They  gave  us  a 
hearty  welcome,  and  our  thoughts  coincided  in  a  "  now 
we'll  celebrate  Christmas."    By-and-by  they  told   us 
about  themselves  and  their  enterprise.     A  newly  formed 
company,  called  Sociedad  Germano- Argentina,  had  got 
a    concession    of    about     1200    square  miles  of  land 
from  Lake  Posadas  to  Rio  Chico,  on  condition  that  it 
brought  colonists  from  Germany  who  promised  to  devote 
themselves  to  cattle- raising  and  agriculture.     Two  of 
our  new  friends  had  a  share  each  and  were  out  looking 
for  a  suitable  piece  of  land  in  order  to  buy  it.     The 
manager,  C.  Hogberg,  a  Swede  and  late  captain  of  a  ship, 
was  only  some  days'  joiu?ney  from  there  and  was  ex- 
pected after  Christmas.     The  Germans  had  not  made  up 
their  minds  as  to  where  they  wanted  to  settle  in  earnest, 
but  thought  of  stopping  for  the  winter  on  the  lake, 
to  see  what  the  unfavourable  season  was  like.     It  is  a 
doubtful  question  whether  this  part  of  the  country  is 
fit  for  either  of  the  purposes  mentioned  above.     The 
lake  is  situated  not  less  than  2570  feet  above  sea- level. 
The  stony  peninsula,  connected  with  the  mainland  to 
the  east  by  a  very  narrow  neck  of  land,  produces  the 
impression  of  being  barren  and  weather-worn.     I  can 
see  but  one  great  advantage:    it  does  not  need  to  be 
fenced  in.     Probably  the  winter  is  comparatively  severe 


LAGO  BELGRANO  229 

and  the  summer  sliort  with  early  night- frosts.  I  do  not 
think  the  colonists  will  stay  long  here.  The  communica- 
tion with  the  outer  world  goes  over  San  Julian,  a  distance 
of  220  miles  as  the  crow  flies.  The  land  round  Lake 
Belgrano  is  certainly  not  especially  good,  and  what  it  is 
that  has  fixed  the  attention  of  the  colonists  just  upon 
that  part  I  am  unable  to  understand. 

The  Germans  complained  that  they  were  short  of  meat, 
and  we  were  glad  to  give  them  some  of  our  ample  supply. 
There  were  deer  on  the  peninsula,  but  the  Company 
wanted  to  spare  them.  In  return  for  the  meat  they  gave 
us  white  beans  and  lentils;  we  were  very  short  of 
vegetables:  the  oatmeal  was  finished  and  our  possi- 
bilities of  making  pancakes  had  become  sadly  limited. 
Of  rice  alone  had  we  a  sufficient  supply. 

Lago  Belgrano  has  been  the  starting-point  for  the 
mapping  out  of  several  lakes,  the  acquaintance  of  which 
we  shall  soon  make.  The  landscape  belongs  to  the 
most  beautiful  in  Patagonia,  and  I  defy  anybody  to 
show  me  mountain  scenery  more  varied  and  grand  than 
that  west  of  the  Azara-Nansen  basin.  A  very  promising 
field  for  work  attracted  us  thither. 

Our  first  thought  was  to  find  a  good  camping-place, 
and  as  we  intended  to  make  a  longer  stay  than  usual, 
it  had  to  be  chosen  with  care.  In  the  iiire  forest  on  the 
east  side  of  the  peninsula  we  found  one  satisfying  all 
oiu:  demands,  cut  some  bush  wood  and  fixed  up  our  tent, 
above  which  the  Swedish  colours  floated.  One  of  our 
most  important  tasks  was  to  make  a  boat  journey 
and  penetrate  westward  into  the  mountains.  We  knew 
that  the  boundary  commission  had  left  a  canvas  boat. 


230  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

and  the  Germans  told  us  that  there  were  two  of  them, 
a  smaller  and  a  larger,  and  indicated  to  us  where  we 
should  look  for  them.  Halle  stopped  at  home,  the  rest 
of  us  went  to  find  the  boats.  We  had  not  gone  far  before 
we  saw  a  blockhouse  in  a  grove.  In  the  Koslowsky 
valley  we  were  told  that  the  commission  had  spent 
a  considerable  time  by  the  lake,  and  that  various  things 
were  left  there,  among  others  preserved  foods.  The 
hut  was  shut  up ;  but  an  opening  in  its  hinder  wall  was 
only  stopped  with  branches  and  one  of  them  being 
loose  it  was  the  work  of  a  second  to  get  into  it.  I  will 
specially  emphasize  that  we  were  in  the  uninhabited 
mountains  of  Patagonia  with  faihng  provisions,  so  that 
the  reader  will  be  able  to  overlook  what  now  happened. 
In  one  corner  there  was  a  barrel  of  wine,  and  four 
wooden  boxes.  Some  instruments  for  making  charts 
were  fixed  under  the  roof.  That  this  had  belonged 
to  the  last  commission,  which  had  put  up  the  boundary 
marks,  we  did  not  doubt  for  one  instant,  and  our 
hypothesis  was  strengthened  when  we  opened  the 
boxes  and  saw  their  contents:  tinned  provisions,  also 
some  luxuries,  tobacco  and  any  amount  of  cigarette 
papers,  barometers  and  thermometers.  One  of  the 
boxes  contained  nothing  but  Jamaica  rum.  We  felt 
happy  enough — this  was  indeed  the  hidden  treasure 
of  a  fairy-tale.  The  Governments  of  both  Chile  and 
Argentina  had  promised  us  their  help:  I  declared 
myself  ready  to  take  the  responsibility  for  robbing 
the  depot,  and  we  picked  out  a  selection  of  provisions, 
especially  in  view  of  the  boat- trip,  since  we  carried 
scarcely   anything   suitable    for   that   purpose.     Even 


LAGO  BELGRANO  231 

the  Christmas  brandy,  a  bottle  of  rum,  we  let  the 
Government  present  us.  We  made  a  list  of  the  stolen 
goods  to  be  sent  to  Buenos  Aires,  nailed  up  the  boxes 
and  effaced  the  traces  of  our  visit.  We  found  it 
imnecessary  to  tell  the  Germans  about  it.  Possibly 
Captain  Hogberg,  once  a  member  of  the  commission, 
had  the  keys ;  but  it  was  less  probable  that  he  had  let 
the  colonists  into  the  secret. 

We  soon  found  the  boats ;  one  had  been  fixed  under 
cover  some  distance  from  the  shore,  but  it  was  so  large 
that  we  could  not  think  of  using  it.  The  other  lay 
without  any  protection  on  the  beach,  it  was  a  non- 
collapsible  eight-foot,  rather  the  worse  for  smi,  wind  and 
weather.  Probably  it  had  not  been  used  for  years. 
We  tried  it  and  found  it  leaked  terribly.  It  was  not 
easy  for  us  to  repair  it,  for  we  had  no  materials,  but 
some  grease  in  the  joints  and  on  the  canvas  made 
it  serviceable  enough,  though  the  man  in  the  stern  was 
kept  busy  all  the  time  baling  out  the  water.  Heavily 
laden  with  the  "  Christmas  gifts "  we  returned  to 
the  tent.  Halle  was  at  home  \vriting:  we  opened 
the  door  a  Uttle  and  threw  in  a  tin :  "Do  you  want 
some  butter  for  Christmas  ?  ...  or  perhaps  milk  ? 
...  a  piece  of  cheese  doesn't  taste  bad  .  .  .  here, 
too,  you  have  an  ox- tongue."  And  at  last,  shaking  the 
bottle:  "  I  think  we'll  have  some  grog  to  celebrate  the 
day."  I  have  seldom  seen  a  person  look  so  absolutely 
at  a  loss;  he  wouldn't  believe  it,  and  it  took  him  a 
long  while  to  grasp  the  situation.  It  almost  looked  like 
a  conjuring  trick.  The  poor  "  extra "  tins  we  had 
bought   in  Aysen   quite    faded  into  insignificance  in 


232  THE  AVILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

comparison  with  all  these  new  dainties;    now  we  were 

prepared    for   the   double   festival   on    the    Southern 

Hemisphere — Christmas  and  Midsummer's  Day  at  the 

same  time. 

The  menu  of  the  dinner  on  Christmas  Eve  was  as 

follows  : 

Hors  d'ceuvre. 

Coeur  de  cerf  saute  avec  des  legumes. 

Figues  au  riz  avec  du  lait. 

The. 

Grog  au  rhum. 

We  were  dangerously  near  gourmandising.  I  would  not 
say  that  the  discovery  we  made  the  next  morning,  viz., 
that  the  things  we  had  taken  could  not  belong  to  any 
boundary  commission,  but  to  the  employees  and 
engineers  of  the  German  colonizing  company,  helped 
to  the  digestion  of  the  strange  dishes.  The  date  on  one 
of  the  tins  had  revealed  the  truth — we  had  just  com- 
mitted burglary.  However,  it  was  done  and  could 
not  be  undone.  I  wrote  a  letter  to  Captain  Hogberg 
explaining  matters  and  offering  to  pay  for  what  we  had 
stolen;  in  Punta  Arenas  I  got  an  answer  in  which  he 
declared  himself  happy  to  have  been  of  assistance  to 
some  of  his  countrjonen,  and  thus  everything  was  all 
right.     We  still  feel  indebted  to  him. 

Breakfast  on  Christmas  Day  wasn't  bad.  "What  do 
you  say  to  pancakes  with  gooseberry  jam;  the  latter 
honestly  acquired  too,  in  Aysen,  and  coffee  with  bread. 
We  had  had  a  baking  for  Christmas.  In  the  evening  we 
accepted  an  invitation  to  visit  the  Germans.  They  were 
nearly  as  poorly  off  as  ourselves,  but  had  one  thing  that 


LAGO  BELGRANO  233 

we  could  not  even  di'eam  of — a  barrel  of  wine,  and  round 
it  we  sat  having  a  merry  time.  At  night  they  came  to 
have  dinner  with  us.  It  was  a  proper  Christmas,  and 
during  the  night  it  even  snowed  in  spite  of  its  being 
midsummer.  Probably  this  was  a  special  attention  paid 
to  the  Swedish  visitors,  who  knew  how  to  appreciate  it. 
Then  we  had  enough  of  feasting.  All  Christmas  Day 
we  had  done  no  work.  On  Boxing  Day  we  wanted  to 
start  oiu:  boat- trip,  but  it  blew  too  hard  in  the  morning 
and  we  had  to  wait  till  the  afternoon  before  we  could 
venture  to  set  out.  Carefully  we  packed  the  sleeping 
bags  and  provisions  for  some  days  and  more  carefully 
still  we  placed  ourselves  in  the  canvas  boat,  Quensel, 
Pagels  and  I.  There  was  not  much  of  the  gunwale 
above  water. 

Opposite  us,  on  the  south  shore,  the  mountain- 
scenery  was  splendid,  reflcctad  by  the  clear  blue-green 
water;  down  below  green  slopes  with  brown  patches 
of  heath  and  yellow  straps  of  sand,  then  a  steep  mountain 
wall  with  multi-coloured  debris  and  yellow,  red  and 
violet  tufa- layers;  on  the  top  of  them  a  black  jagged 
crest  of  slate,  spUt  up  into  crags,  sharp  as  needles,  where 
white  snow  still  lingered  here  and  there.  We  kept  close 
inland,  and  reached  the  narrow  West  Arm ;  the  ciu:rent 
in  the  entrance  is  very  strong.  The  evening  was  squally, 
and  we  soon  had  to  land  for  the  night.  The  morning 
arrived  with  a  fresh  breeze  and  the  sea  ran  so  high  that 
we  could  not  sit  three  in  the  boat,  but  Pagels  pulled 
along  the  shore,  Quensel  and  I  walking  on  foot.  It 
was  not  long  before  the  wind  increased  and  both  we 
and  the  boat  landed  in  a  small  bay.     The  great  difficulty 


234  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

in  navigation  on  Andine  lakes  is  the  persistent  westerly- 
wind  blowing  without  cessation. 

We  had  camped  early  in  the  day.  From  a  hill  we 
could  see  the  depression  of  the  lakes  Azara-Nansen. 
They  are  completely  shut  in  by  snowy  ridges,  and  the 
brooks  keep  their  waters  at  a  nearly  constant  tempera- 
ture of  some  few  centigrades  above  zero.  The  hour  of 
liberty  did  not  strike  that  day,  and  our  spirits  fell  indeed 
when  we  rose  with  the  same  wretched  weather.  At 
noon  the  wind  abated,  and  in  the  evening  we  went 
forward.  Quensel  and  I  walked  as  long  as  we  could 
when  Pagels  took  us  on  board  and  we  landed  happily 
at  the  short  river,  where  a  waterfall  empties  Lago 
Belgrano  into  Lago  Azara.  Here  we  had  to  carry  the 
boat  and  things  over  the  hills;  the  cascade  has  a  fall 
of  twenty- six  feet  in  a  distance  of  only  700  feet.  We 
continued  at  once  to  the  next  beautiful  lake,  now  smooth 
as  a  mirror.  Wanting  to  get  as  far  west  as  possible 
we  turned  off  into  the  long  narrow  western  branch, 
the  mouth  of  which  is  very  shallow  and  almost  barred 
by  thousands  of  big  logs  from  the  forests  round  the  lake. 
Already  in  the  west  part  of  Lago  Belgrano,  the  forest- 
patches  closed  to  a  thick  covering,  and  all  the  slopes 
were  quite  hidden  under  a  dense  forest.  We  had  to  pass 
the  entrance  on  foot,  and  Pagels  was  hardly  able  to 
get  through  with  an  empty  boat  into  the  calm  water, 
which  the  reflections  fi'om  the  high  mountains  painted 
black- green.  We  did  not  mind  the  dark,  but  wanted 
to  get  on  as  long  as  it  was  calm,  but  hardly  had  we 
agreed  to  do  so  when  the  first  puff  of  wind  came  rushing 
along,  followed  by  others  stronger  and  more  and  more 


German  Colonists,  Lake  Belgrano. 


Ureakkast  Tahi.e  I1X  CiiRisiMAs  Day,   Lake  Hki.gkano. 


LAGO  BELGRANO  235 

frequent.  In  haste  we  had  to  seek  the  first  landing- 
place  we  could  find  where  it  was  possible  to  haul  up  the 
boat.  In  order  to  find  a  place  to  sleep  in  we  groped 
along  in  the  darkness  and  climbed  up  into  a  narrow 
crevice ;  sixty  feet  above  the  water  we  found  a  nice  little 
shelf  just  big  enough  for  the  sleeping-bags.  If  one  regards 
this  place  from  below  it  is  impossible  to  see  that  there  is  a 
camping- place  in  the  middle  of  the  very  mountain- wall. 
Now  and  then  we  woke  up  fi'om  sheer  curiosity. 
Really,  we  thought,  it  is  getting  calm  again.  At  4  a.m. 
we  got  out,  rolled  up  our  bags  and  hastened  off,  in  the 
lovely  weather,  every  peak  standing  out  distinct  and 
towering  against  a  cloudless  sky.  Not  only  the  vegeta- 
tion had  undergone  some  changes.  Quensel  looked  at 
the  rocks  now  and  then;  we  landed  and  he  knocked 
off  a  piece ;  the  backbone  of  the  cordillera,  the  granites, 
appeared  once  more.  After  some  hours  pulling  we 
reached  the  innermost  corner,  where  we  breakfasted  on 
the  sunny  beach  to  the  music  of  a  small  waterfall.  We 
followed  the  stream  up  to  its  origin,  a  charming  little 
lake  without  a  name  on  the  map,  but  by  us  called 
Laguna  Joy  a  (the  gem).  In  order  to  profit  by  the  day 
we  made  an  ascent.  The  ground  here  is  very  uneven, 
up  and  down  over  mossy  rocks  and  forest- covered 
ravines,  but  we  made  good  speed  and  finally  freeing 
ourselves  from  the  last  embrace  of  the  twigs  had  the 
forest  below  us.  Over  rattling  stones  we  climbed 
Cerro  Aspero  till  we  reached  the  foot  of  a  large  glacier 
covering  the  summit;  only  the  sharpest  peaks,  from 
which  the  ice  glides  in  frozen  cascades,  peeped  forth.  We 
have  not  seen  many  bits  of  scenery  equal  to  the  one  seen 


236  THE  AVILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

from  here.  The  camera  clicked,  but  certainly  gave  no 
idea  of  the  colom's.  South  and  west  of  us  we  had  the 
high  peaks  close  by,  shutting  out  the  view  in  these 
directions;  but  to  the  north  like  sparkhng  gems  on 
a  dark  green  cloth  lie  the  lakes,  a  small  sapphire- 
coloured  corner  of  Lake  Azara,  the  lakes  Mogole  and 
Peninsula  showing  the  tints  of  amethyst  and  emerald. 
Beyond,  summit  after  summit  rises,  in  all  directions 
with  large  glaciers  giving  birth  to  milk-white  rivers 
winding  through  yellow  moraines.  Farthest  north, 
majestic  and  commanding,  Cerro  San  Lorenzo  reigns 
over  all,  with  its  11,000  feet,  one  of  Patagonia's  highest 
mountains  and  so  steep  that  one  really  wonders  how  the 
glaciers  are  able  to  cling  to  its  sides.  To  the  west  the 
inland  ice  gently  wraps  its  sheet  over  Cerro  Blanco, 
shining  Hke  silver  and  gold  in  the  strong  noon- tide 
light.  It  is  a  long  distance  to  San  Lorenzo,  but  never- 
theless we  can  see  that  its  geology  is  different  from  the 
surrounding  lower  mountains.  Probably  all  the  highest 
summits,  such  as  San  Clemente  and  San  Valentin  are 
of  the  same  laccolitic  natiu:e.  At  the  foot  of  Cerro 
Blanco  we  catch  sight  of  a  small  lake,  not  marked  on 
the  map  and  probably  never  before  seen  by  anybody. 
We  almost  ran  down,  for  we  must  make  use  of  the  fine 
weather.  In  haste  we  gobbled  some  food  on  the  shore 
and  said  good-bye  to  Lago  Azara.  It  was  midnight 
when  we  reached  Lago  Belgrano.  In  the  whu'lpools 
below  the  cascade  we  were  near  to  comiag  to  grief,  but 
Pagels'  seamanship  saved  the  situation.  In  the  morning 
we  carried  the  boat  across  and  were  back  in  our  own  lake 
again.     This  time  we  took  the  way  north  of  the  penin- 


LAGO  BELGRANO  237 

siila,  where  the  lake  is  rather  narrow.  To  our  surprise 
we  found  it  so  shallow  that  we  could  hardly  pass,  owing 
to  Rio  Lacteo  carrying  down  masses  of  mud  from  the 
glaciers  on  San  Lorenzo.  Further  east  we  got  into 
deep  water  again  and  in  the  afternoon  of  December  30 
were  back  in  our  camp.  In  the  evening  we  had  a 
notable  visit  from  two  Tehuelche  Indians,  for  the  time 
staying  with  the  Germans.  Silently  they  sat  down 
before  the  fire,  but  when  they  had  drunk  a  cup  of  cocoa, 
a  beverage  rather  unkno\vn  to  them,  they  loosened  their 
tongues.  They  were  brothers  and  indeed  such  a  pair 
of  fine  fellows  to  look  at  that  we  could  hardly  conceive 
that  they  really  belonged  to  the  last  remnants  of  a 
dying  race.  To  see  them  mount  a  bucking,  unsaddled 
horse,  on  which  they  sat  like  wax,  was  pure  delight. 
We  spoke  to  them  about  the  route  we  had  taken  from 
Lago  Pue}Tredon  there,  but  they  did  not  at  all  approve 
of  it.  Why  should  people  endure  such  hardships 
when  they  could  gallop  round  those  troublesome 
mountains  ?  Our  dinner  was  now  ready,  and  we 
invited  them  to  partake  of  it;  they  protested  saying 
that  they  had  just  had  theirs;  but  nevertheless  two 
plates  of  beans  and  deer-steak  went  down.  Bidding 
us  farewell,  the  elder  said :  "  We  shall  give  you  some 
veal,  and  it  is  very  fat."  We  thanked  them  and  grate- 
fully accepted  the  offer. 

New  Year's  Day  had  been  fixed  for  the  start.  Halle 
had  made  long  excursions  to  survey  this  region  and  had 
obtained  very  good  results.  On  New  Year's  Eve  we 
stayed  at  home  and  worked  hard  to  get  ready ;  we  had 
to  make  bread,  write  down  our  observations,  pack  the 


238  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

collections  and,  last  but  not  least,  mend  our  clothes, 
which  by  now  were  almost  fit  for  a  museum.  Halle 
had  struggled  with  his  trousers  a  long  time — finally 
they  exhibited  a  mosaic  so  cunning  that  it  might  have 
done  for  a  tailor's  trial  piece.  At  sunset  all  was  in 
order.  The  Germans  had  been  kind  enough  to  remind 
us  that  there  was  still  some  wine  left,  and  soon  we  sat 
down  in  the  old  blockhouse,  Swedes,  Germans  and 
Indians.  It  was  cold,  but  we  had  a  merry  fire,  and 
everybody  was  armed  with  a  mighty  tin  mug  of  hot 
wine ;  we  spoke  of  our  homes  and  old  songs  were  sung. 
When  our  watches  showed  midnight  our  revolvers 
rang  out,  the  roof  was  lifted  by  om-  loud  New- Year- 
Greetings,  the  dogs  took  up  the  cry  and  with  a  little 
ring- dance  we  welcomed  1909.  The  Tehuelche  boys 
laughed  till  their  beautiful  white  teeth  shone. 

New  Year's  Day,  1909.  We  struck  camp,  the  flag 
was  lowered.  Wild  after  the  days  of  liberty  the  horses 
strained  against  the  ropes  of  our  corral.  We  halted 
at  the  camp  of  the  Germans  to  bid  farewell  to  the  good 
fellows,  and  then  we  gave  the  horses  a  free  rein,  left  the 
peninsula  and  rode  up  in  a  valley  between  the  hills. 
Here  we  stopped  one  moment  and  turned  round  to  give 
a  last  glance  at  this  charming  picture,  to  which  many  of 
our  merriest  Patagonian  remembrances  are  attached. 
The  surface  of  the  lake  disappears,  the  last  peaks 
sink  behind  the  hills,  we  are  on  the  high  pampas, 
where  the  flora  shows  all  the  beauty  of  midsummer. 
For  a  moment  we  gather  round  map  and  compass,  get 
a  direction,  and  at  good  speed  the  caravan  trots  over 
the  steppe- plains. 


CHAPTER  XV 

LAKE  SAN  MARTfN 

There  are  two  different  routes  to  follow  from  Lake 
Belgrano  to  the  South:  one  westerly,  more  inviting 
from  some  points  of  view  leading  as  it  does  through 
inaccessible  parts  of  the  cordillera,  here  called  Sierra 
de  las  Vacas,  and  one  easterly  along  the  rivers  Belgrano 
and  Lista.  But  the  high  passes  would  probably  be 
so  deep  in  snow  that  we  perhaps  should  not  get  over; 
in  any  case  they  would  require  much  time,  and  time  was 
valuable,  as  we  did  not  know  how  long  we  should  have 
to  stay  at  Lake  San  Martin.  Further,  the  easterly  way 
would  probably  give  better  results  for  geology  and 
botany,  and  this  circumstance  determined  us. 

Over  blooming  pampas,  where  steep  hills  rising  fifty 
to  a  hundred  metres  above  the  level  ground,  and 
numerous  lagoons  make  the  scenery  rather  pleasant, 
we  rode  down  the  canadon  of  Rio  Robles  which  we 
followed  down  to  Rio  Belgrano,  our  old  acquaintance 
of  the  time  of  our  march  down  to  the  lake.  We  crossed 
Rio  Belgrano  and  then,  with  some  difficulty,  because  of 
the  depth  and  the  strong  ciu-rent,  the  two  joint  rivers. 
Here  my  horse,  Johansson,  nearly  succeeded  in  playing 
me  a  bad  trick.  As  I  did  not  want  to  get  wetter  than 
was  necessary  I  drew  my  legs  on  his  back,  and  probably 
touched  him  with  one  of  the  spurs ;  anyhow,  he  got  wild 

239 


240  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

and  tried  to  throw  me  ofi  in  the  middle  of  the  stream. 
Certainly  it  would  not  have  been  very  pleasant  had  he 
been  able  to  carry  out  his  intention,  as  it  was  I  only 
lost  my  rebenque  (whip)  and  got  soaked  to  my  waist, 
but  the  fresh  pampas- wind  soon  dried  my  clothes. 
We  had  just  crossed  this  river  and  were  trotting  along 
again,  when,  to  our  surprise,  we  discovered  a  caravan 
further  down — but  alas !  on  the  other  side.  We  sup- 
posed that  it  was  Captain  Hogberg,  and  were  very  sorry 
indeed  that  we  could  not  stop,  but  we  had  a  long  march 
before  nightfall  and  thought  it  would  be  too  trouble- 
some to  cross  the  river  twice.  Had  we  only  been  able 
to  see  the  troop  before  we  crossed  the  temptation  would 
have  been  too  strong — one  does  not  meet  compatriots 
every  day  in  the  uninhabited  parts  of  Patagonia. 

We  had  to  search  well  before  we  found  a  camping- 
place  that  satisfied  our  needs.  Everywhere  there  was 
plenty  of  grass  and  water,  but  no  fuel.  When  we  un- 
saddled our  horses  we  discovered  that  Jeremias,  whose 
back  had  been  bad  for  a  long  time,  now  looked  terrible. 
We  had  thought  that  after  the  rest  at  Lake  Belgrano 
he  would  be  able  to  carry  his  load  again,  but  his  old 
swollen  wounds  had  broken  open  and  were  full  of  matter. 
His  job  from  this  day  was  to  act  as  watch- horse  in  the 
night — and  during  the  marches  to  lead  the  troop  astray 
and  thus  cause  our  riding  horses  a  lot  of  extra  work. 

The  next  day  we  continued  along  the  valley  of  Kio 
Belgrano,  until  we  found  a  good  pass  where  we  could 
cross  the  ridge  and  descend  into  the  valley  of  the  rather 
large  river,  Lista,  which  drains  the  Sierra  de  las  Vacas 
by  means  of  numerous  tributaries.     At  the  point  where 


LAKE  SAN  MARTIN  241 

we  struck  the  river  it  is  divided  into  many  branches, 
which  constantly  shift  their  course  over  a  bed  of  shingle. 
The  last  one  was  so  deep  that  the  loads  only  just  came 
clear  of  the  water.     The  Lista  Valley  looks  very  fertile. 
Unfortunately  this  region  as  well  as  that  through  which 
we  rode  on  the  following  day  lies  so  high  above  sea  / 
level  that  the  winter  is  generally  too  severe  for  both  sheep 
and  cattle.     An  old  abandoned  ranclio  close  to  the  Rio 
Nires,  where  we  camped  on  January  2  showed  that 
colonisation  had  been  a  failure.    But  why  not  make  ^ 
use  of  all  this  fat  grass   above  the  sea  as  we  do  in  -^ 
Switzerland  or  in  Scandinavia  ?     The  system  of  moun- 
tain dairies,  used  only  in  the  summer,  will  probably 
reach  Patagonia  also  in  time. 

The  rivers  Belgrano  and  Lista  belong  to  the  Atlantic 
system;  they  run  to  Rio  Chico,  a  river  anything  but 
small  as  the  name  denotes,  which  empties  in  the  same 
estuary  as  Rio  Santa  Cruz.  A  few  miles  south  of  Rio 
Lista  we  passed  the  ridge  which  forms  the  water- 
parting,  and  set  our  course  for  the  valley  of  Rio  Nires. 
The  name  of  this  river  did  not  sound  very  promising, 
and  I  have  never  seen  brushwood  which  was  denser.  ^ 
For  long  stretches  the  stream  was  not  visible,  and  one 
had  to  search  for  a  place  where  one  could  get  down 
and  fill  the  pot  with  water. 

The  next  river  had  a  still  more  discouraging  name: 
Arroyo  Tucotuco.  And  on  the  map  the  valley  was 
marked  as  one  extensive  swamp.  We  walked  carefully 
along,  crossed  the  sources  where  they  emerge  out  of 
narrow  canyons  and  followed  the  valley  south  of  the 
stream.     It  was  indeed  a  charming  place;    we  had  a 

9 


242  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

small  strip  to  keep  on :  a  few  steps  to  the  right  and  the 
horses  sank  down  into  a  bottomless  swamp,  a  few 
to  the  left,  and  the  ground  was  completely  undermined 
by  the  tuco-tuco.  Having  passed  a  small  tributary, 
called  Arroyo  Potrancas  on  the  Chilean  map,  we  soon 
met  with  dense  forests.  Only  round  the  swampy 
brooks  was  there  a  space  of  clear  ground,  but  we  soon 
got  tired  of  groping  our  way  and  turned  at  right  angles 
into  the  forest.  Abraham  made  the  most  energetic 
attempts  to  carry  away  the  trees — a  horse  never  learns 
that  his  pack  makes  him  broader — and  we  had  to  be  very 
watchful  to  release  him,  stuck  fast  as  he  stood  between 
two  stems,  with  a  most  frightened  expression  on  his 
stupid  face. 

Suddenly  the  ground  fell  off  at  a  very  sharp  angle ;  we 
stood  at  the  top  of  a  forest- clad  barranca,  300  feet 
high,  that  sloped  abruptly  down  into  the  valley.  I 
was  to  lead  one  of  the  pack-horses,  our  old  friend 
Ruckel:  he  started  to  tremble  as  soon  as  he  saw  the 
steep  place,  and  nearly  crushed  me  against  a  tree.  We 
found  that  we  had  reached  our  goal,  the  place  where 
(  Rio  Carbon  joins  Rio  Mayer.  We  camped  in  a  high  and 
lofty  roble  forest.  Mr.  Hatcher  made  his  principal 
geological  studies  in  the  Meseta  east  of  Rio  Carbon, 
and  so  the  geologists  were  very  anxious  to  visit  the 
place.  However,  our  halt  did  not  result  in  much; 
it  proved  exceedingly  difficult  to  identify  Hatcher's 
locaHties;  certainly  we  had  no  presentiment  of  the 
discoveries,  still  greater  than  those  made  here  before, 
which  were  in  store  for  us. 

When  our  caravan  started  again  on  January  5  we  did 


LAKE  SAN  MARTIN  243 

not  expect  to  cross  the  pass  over  to  the  depression  of 
Lake  San  Martin  in  one  day.  The  maps  spoke  of 
difficulties,  and  the  distance  was  great.  The  first  part 
was  not  very  difficult  and  at  12  a.m.  we  passed  the  last 
forest- patch  and  made  up  our  mind  to  push  through. 
The  river,  which  carried  plenty  of  water,  had  dug  its 
coiu'se  between  vertical  walls.  To  pass  above  the 
barranca  was  impossible,  for  on  one  side  it  rose  sheer 
for  many  hundred  feet  ;  on  the  other  was  the  basaltic 
meseta  with  a  ground  covered  with  milhons  of  blocks, 
impassable  for  horses  or  even  mules.  Thus  we  were 
bound  to  keep  in  the  bottom  of  the  ravine,  working  our 
way  with  the  speed  of  a  snail  and  climbing  incessantly 
from  one  side  of  the  river  to  the  other.  Often  cross 
ravines  or  protruding  joints  stopped  us,  and  we  had  to 
exert  all  our  powers  to  drive  the  horses  through  such 
places,  where  they  one  moment  would  climb  the  barranca 
and  the  next  rush  down  into  the  water.  In  spite  of  all 
we  could  not  help  laughing  at  the  mare,  who  tried  to 
climb  a  vertical  wall,  but  came  down  faster  than  she 
expected.  We  came  to  ground  covered  with  large, 
sharp- edged  blocks:  the  troop  dispersed,  the  pack- 
horses  stumbled  and  fell.  Without  hesitation  we  let 
our  horses  loose,  climbed  up  to  fetch  the  others  and 
managed  to  drive  them  down  to  more  even  ground. 
Luckily  enough  none  of  them  were  hurt. 

The  higher  we  rose  the  narrower  grew  the  valley,  and 
the  snow  increased  exceedingly  towards  the  pass, 
and  we  came  upon  large  drifts  and  bridges  which  bore 
or  broke  just  as  it  pleased  them.  AVhen  we  reached 
the  pass,  we  had  crossed  the  river  twenty- seven  times. 


244  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

The  whole  pass  was  covered  with  snow — only  on  the 
steepest  walls  the  withered  rock  lay  bare  and  yellow, 

^  without  a  trace  of  vegetation.  The  river  wound  between 
vertical  walls  of  ice  and  snow  a  few  yards  high.  We 
rode  in  the  bed  between  them,  until  they  met  in  an 
unbroken  white  cover,  under  which  the  river  disappeared. 
Across  the  snowfields  we  slowly  approached  the  south 
side  of  the  pass.  We  were  prepared  for  nice  surprises 
in  the  shape  of  floating  soil,  and  I  very  much  doubt 
if  we  shall  ever  forget  that  afternoon  in  the  Canadon 
of  Eio  Fosiles.  It  is  difficult  to  think  of  a  more  terrify- 
ing scene.  Everywhere  high,  steep  walls  with  dirty 
melting  snow-patches,  streams  of  clay,  red- brown 
or  blackish,  and  deep  down  under  our  feet  the  river 

\  like  a  boiling  mass  of  red  mud.  Not  a  blade  of  grass — 
life  seemed  extinguished;  only  a  single  condor  soars 
comfortably  among  the  peaks  watching  the  little  black 
points,  which  struggle  along,  expecting  every  moment 
that  a  horse  will  get  tired,  stumble  and  fall  down  into 
the  abyss. 

There  were  places  where  we  stopped  without  knowing 
at  first  what  to  do ;  sheer  rock  walls  where  we  could  see 
how  the  horses  strained  every  muscle  not  to  lose  their 
foothold,  or  loose  floating  soil,  where  they  sank  down 
and  fell.  It  often  happened  that  danger  was  un- 
V  suspected ;  the  surface  is  dry,  hard  and  full  of  crevices  ; 
one  drives  the  troop  along  and  then,  suddenly,  all 
the  horses  are  down  in  the  mud.  If  we  had  not  helped 
Jakob  in  time  he  would  have  stopped  where  he  was; 
the  clay  dragged  him  down,  he  struggled  for  his  life, 
but  rolled  round  and  started  to  slide  down  with  the  thick 


LAKE  SAN  MARTIN  245 

reddish  mud  which  slowly  floated  away.  We  saved 
the  Winchester  which  was  tied  to  his  saddle,  took  him 
by  the  legs  and  turned  him  round  while  one  pulled 
the  cabresta  and  the  other  whipped  him,  and  finally 
we  got  him  on  firm  ground  again.  Halle's  look  when 
he  met  his  horse  again  was  worth  money.  But  he  had 
not  time  to  worry.  A  discovery  of  an  unknown  rich  ■ 
fossil  flora  had  been  made  by  him  when  he  was  away 
from  the  caravan,  and  this  cast  a  gleam  of  brightness 
over  the  unpleasant  valley. 

The  hours  passed  and  the  horses  became  more  and 
more  difficult  to  manage.  To  ride  was  impossible, 
and  many  times  we  met  with  passages  which  the  animals 
could  hardly  clear  even  with  an  empty  saddle.  We 
followed  the  east  side  of  the  river,  and  by-and-by  climbed 
out  of  the  Canadon  on  to  the  plateau,  where  the  patches 
of  vegetation  soon  closed  together.  The  first,  violet 
forest- patches  were  seen  in  the  gloaming  but  we  could 
not  reach  them.  Night  fell  and  quite  exhausted  we  threw 
oiu:selves  down  by  the  first  bushes,  some  "  mata  blanca  " 
{Chiliotrichum  diffusum).  We  had  been  under  way 
twelve  hours  without  rest  and  over  the  worst  ground 
to  be  found  in  Patagonia.  We  were  3000  feet  above 
sea  level  and  had  covered  a  distance  of  twenty  miles 
since  the  morning. 

When  we  came  the  following  morning  to  fetch  the 
horses,  almost  all  of  them  had  lain  down,  which  had 
hardly  ever  happened  before.  We  saddled  to  ride  to 
the  first  forest- patch,  two  hours'  march  only,  and  there 
the  horses  got  a  rest  and  we  made  our  usual  excursions. 
We  had  discussed  the  possibility  of  stopping  here  some 


246  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

days,  but  Halle  thought  the  find  so  rich  that  he  preferred 
to  return  to  the  place  during  our  boat- trip.  Another 
reason  for  continuing  the  march  was  that  we  were  short 
of  provisions;  the  last  thirty- one  figs  were  boiled  with 
the  last  handful  of  rice,  and  from  the  last  remains  of  the 
bag  of  flour  two  small  loaves  were  made.  Conse- 
quently we  made  a  fresh  start  the  following  day, 
January  7,  in  order  to  reach  an  estancia  near  Lake 
San  Martin  which  we  had  sighted  from  the  pass.  The 
descent  was  not  difficult,  but  the  ground  was  such  that 
it  gave  the  horses  much  unnecessary  work,  a  confusion 
of  hills  and  canyons  impossible  to  prospect.  We  had 
just  come  down  a  very  steep  barranca,  when  on  a  little 
green  patch  below  we  caught  sight  of  a  man  on  horse- 
back driving  a  small  troop.  "  How  far  is  Frank's 
farm  from  here  ?  "  "  Only  a  couple  of  hours,"  was  the 
answer,  we  should  soon  strike  a  track.  At  once  we 
divided  the  last  loaf — it  must  not  happen  that  we  reached 
our  goal  with  provisions  to  spare.  We  soon  found  the 
track,  which  followed  a  peculiar  winding  canyon  where 
the  air  was  still  and  the  heat  oppressive.  Suddenly 
the  view  of  the  steppe  opened,  there  lay  the  well-known 
houses  of  corrugated  iron,  shining  in  the  bright  sun. 
Our  friend  Mr.  Frank  met  us,  and  the  curtain  fell  on 
the  second  act. 

We  had  met  Mr.  Frank  on  several  occasions  and  he  had 
showed  himself  much  interested  in  our  plans  and  wanted 
us  to  visit  his  farm  in  order  to  make  an  excursion  on  the 
lake  together.  He  is  a  German  and  lives  in  Santiago 
during  the  winter.  To  reach  his  farm  he  has  to  take  the 
steamer  through  the  Straits  and  up  to  San  Julian; 


LAKE  SAN  MARTIN  247 

from  there  he  rides  or  drives  up  to  the  Cordillera. 
Some  years  ago  he  had  a  special  motor-car  constructed 
to  go  between  the  farm  and  the  coast,  having  high 
wheels  to  pass  the  rivers.  The  result,  however,  was  not 
very  brilliant — it  took  twice  as  much  time  with  the 
motor-car  as  with  the  bull- carts.  But  as  the  first 
experiment  it  is  worth  a  page  in  the  history  of  Patagonian* 
colonization. 

Shearing  was  just  finished,  but  an  important  piece  of 
work  had  still  to  be  done  before  Mr.  Frank  and  his 
people  could  be  ready  to  join  us  in  the  excursion.  The 
sheep  had  to  be  dipped  in  order  to  prevent  the  spread 
of  "  the  scab,"  a  disease  that  of  course  has  a  very  dis- 
advantageous effect  on  the  quantity  and  value  of  the 
wool.  They  swim  through  a  channel  filled  with  some 
disinfecting  fluid,  and  a  man  stands  ready  to  give  them 
a  proper  dip.  Up  they  come  again,  snorting  and  bleating 
soaked  with  the  brown  water. 

We  devoted  our  own  energies  to  the  boat.  There 
was  left  over  from  the  time  of  the  boundary  commission 
a  ruined  cutter,  built  by  Captain  Hogberg;  all  loose 
things  had  been  stolen  and  the  remains  were  of  no  use. 
But  there  were  also  two  canvas- boats,  which  lay  on  the 
ground  close  to  Bahia  de  la  Lancha,  a  cove  not  far  from 
the  farm  itself.  One  of  them  was  very  large,  not 
collapsible  and  half- rotten,  and  we  could  not  think  of 
using  it.  The  other  was  of  the  same  type  that  we  had 
used  before  in  Tierra  del  Fuego,  a  first-class  Berthon, 
but  much  longer  than  ours,  easily  carrying  eight 
persons.  It  had  been  transported  there  some  years 
earHer,   but  left  on  the  beach    and  never  launched. 


248  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

"Wind  and  weather  had  treated  it  badly;  part  of  the 
wood  was  broken  to  pieces  and  the  canvas  had  numerous 
holes  so  that  it  was  a  job  to  repair  it.  But  we  all 
helped  and  Pagels  was  very  handy,  as  usual.  On  the 
10th  our  work  was  finished  and  lay  shining  in  the  sun 
with  fresh  paint  and  patches.  We  were  sorry  not  to  be 
able  to  start  at  once.  Certainly  we  had  much  to  do 
in  the  neighbourhood,  and  we  saw  day  after  day  go  by 
without  getting  off.  At  last,  on  the  14th,  they  finished 
the  dipping  and  then  came  the  preparation  of  provisions. 
For  meat  we  only  carried  the  carcasses  of  two  sheep; 
they  would  not  last  long,  but  we  were  sure  to  find  some- 
thing to  shoot.  On  the  15th  we  went  down  to  the  beach, 
Quensel,  Frank,  myself,  Pagels  and  two  men  from  the 
farm.  It  blew  hard,  but  we  wanted  to  be  quite  ready 
when  the  calm  came. 

Lake  San  Martin,  which  is  660  feet  above  sea  level, 
has  the  most  peculiar  shape  of  all  the  Cordilleran  lakes. 
Its  surface  is  376  square  miles  and  is  split  up  into 
several  long  and  narrow  arms,  veritable  fresh- water 
fiords,  penetrating  far  into  the  moimtains.  The  most 
westerly  of  the  two  north  arms,  here  called  only  North 
Arm,  is  the  longest ;  the  eastern  we  call  the  Mayer  Arm. 
The  North  Arm  turns  to  the  north-west  near  its  end. 
and  here  we  find  the  outlet  of  the  Lake,  the  big  river 
Pascua,  which  empties  into  one  of  the  branches  of  Baker 
Inlet  in  the  Pacific.  From  this  latitude  and  down  to 
Ultima  Esperanza  there  is  no  interruption  in  the  iuland 
ice ;  all  the  lakes  south  of  San  Martin  empty  into  the 
Atlantic,  except  the  Payne  lakes,  which  send  their 
water  to  Ultima  Esperanza  through  Kio  Serrano.     The 


LAKE  SAN  MARTIN  249 

West  and  Soiitli  Arms  penetrate  furthest  into  the  Cordil- 
lera, and  in  the  latter  the  glaciers  come  down  to  the 
water.     The  prevailing  westerly  gales  drive  the  ice- 
bergs out  of  the  South  Arm ;   most  of  them  run  ashore 
without  getting  very  far,  but  some  are  seen  from  the 
settlements.     The  temperature  of  the  water  even  in 
summer  does  not  exceed  six  or  seven  degrees  centigrade,  i 
Rio  Pascua  not  only  carries  the  water  of  San  Martin 
but  also  of  much  more  distant  lakes.     As  the  reader  will 
remember  we  made  the  acquaintance  of  Rio  Mayer  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Fosiles  pass,  where  it  comes  from 
the  canyon;    after  having  received  the  rivulets  Nires 
and  Tuco-tuco  this  river  makes  a  sharp  turn  to  the 
south  and  receives  through  Rio  Nansen  or  Carrera  the 
water  from  the  lakes  Nansen,   Azara  and  Belgrano, 
disappears  for  a  second  time  in  the  mountains    and 
emerges  in  the  arm  of  Lake  San  Martin. 

Through  the  descriptions  of  the  Boundary  Commis- 
sions we  know  how  very  difficult,  not  to  say  dangerous, 
it  is  to  navigate  on  Lake  San  Martin.  The  wind,  which 
often  rises  to  a  gale,  can  make  progress  to  the  westward 
impossible  for  weeks.  We  trusted  to  our  luck — there 
was  nothing  else  to  do  till  we  were  able  to  make  a  start. 
It  calmed  on  the  16th;  we  rose  hurriedly,  hauled  our 
boat  down,  launched  it,  stowed  the  cargo  in  and  got 
under  way  with  our  little  Swedish  flag  in  the  bows. 
Frank  steered  and  the  rest  of  us  pulled  the  four  oars — 
thus  we  had  not  much  chance  of  being  lazy.  Rio 
Fosiles  has  built  a  sandbank  across  the  East  Arm, 
where  we  now  were,  and  when  the  water  is  low  it  quite 
shuts  ofi  the  arm ;  we  found  a  narrow  passage  and  came 


250  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

througli.  We  landed  for  a  while  on  the  rocky  shores  of 
Chacabuco  Peninsula  to  cook  some  food  and  thence 
continued  to  the  northern  shore  of  the  lake.  We  met 
a  heavy  sea  that  broke  all  along  the  Fosiles  delta,  and 
after  several  hours  hard  pull  we  landed  for  the  night. 
A  glance  out  of  the  sleeping  bag  showed  that  we  could 
not  think  of  starting  the  following  morning.  Over 
the  lake  blew  a  fresh  westerly  gale  and  only  at  4  p.m. 
did  we  resolve  to  try  again.  There  was  plenty  of  sea 
and  we  shipped  some  water  and  soon  water  also  came 
from  above  in  the  form  of  heavy  rain,  which  in  a  few 
moments  soaked  us  to  the  skin.  But  it  abated  the 
violence  of  the  waves  and  we  had  to  economize  time 
so  we  went  on  till  it  was  quite  dark.  We  were  then 
close  to  the  Cancha  Rayada  Peninsula,  where  a  bay 
with  a  little  natural  harbour  appeared. 

Storm  again !  We  had  a  very  nice  camping- place 
with  a  shelter  of  some  rocks  and  surrounded  by  a  dense 
brushwood  of  Escallonias,  just  in  full  blossom  with 
flowers  from  snow-white  to  a  deep  crimson.  And 
we  had  plenty  to  do.  I  myself  chmbed  about  on  the 
rocks  collecting  ;  Quensel  studied  the  geology;  and 
Frank  shot  ducks  in  the  salt- lagoons.  The  ground 
reminds  one  of  the  kind  I  have  described  above  from 
the  north  shore  of  Lake  Pueyrredon. 

We  tried  again  on  the  18th.  As  long  as  we  had 
shelter  under  land  it  was  all  right,  but  when  we  had  to 
round  a  promontory  the  old  game  began  as  before. 
From  the  north-west  came  a  heavy  swell  from  the  lake, 
and  from  the  north-east  as  well,  out  of  a  large  bay, 
the  seas  met  together  over  our  poor  Httle  boat.    The 


LAKE  SAN  MAETIN  251 

weather  became  squally,  there  was  a  "  smoke  "  of  water 
on  the  port,  on  starboard  and  ahead,  the  regular  swell 
changed  into  a  confusion  of  white  furious  sea,  impossible 
to  reckon  wdth,  that  seemed  to  come  from  every  point  of 
the  compass;  our  fragile  craft — canvas  and  a  wooden 
frame — was  banged  about,  sometimes  with  such  violence 
that  the  oars  jumped  out  of  the  rowlocks  in  spite  of 
all  oiu:  efforts  to  keep  them  in.  But  the  boat  stood  the 
trial  in  an  amazing  manner.  Of  coiu'se  it  shipped  some 
water — enough  to  soak  us — but  on  the  whole  it  proved 
more  seaworthy  than  we  had  expected.  However, 
we  had  to  look  for  a  harbour  and  found  an  inviting 
corner  in  the  above-mentioned  bay  which  we  named 
Bahia  Cuchillo,  in  remembrance  of  my  last  knife  that  I 
left  there. 

We  kept  a  sharp  look-out,  and  when  the  weather  got 
better  we  started  again.  The  question  now  was  how 
to  cross  the  entrance  of  the  Mayer  Arm.  We  made  for 
the  eastern  headland,  which  dissolved  into  two  small 
isles  when  we  came  closer.  The  passage  w^as  critical 
enough,  the  waves  came  from  two  directions  and  were 
as  high  as  our  boat  could  stand  them.  It  was  a  hard 
job  and  we  felt  very  happy  when  we  had  reached  the 
west  head  safely,  where  we  slept  hke  logs. 

Now  we  had  left  the  pampas  behind  and  the  forest 
formed  one  continuous  cover  on  the  shores.  Had  the 
water  only  been  salt  we  could  have  beHeved  ourselves 
in  the  channels  of  West  Patagonia. 

We  went  out  again  in  the  old  swell,  and  made  a  good 
start.  But  suddenly  a  suspicious  gust  of  wind  came 
and  then  the  gale  began  again.     And  it  came  on  properly 


252  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

this  time;  so  that  we  passed  some  moments  of  con- 
siderable anxiety.  The  gusts  seemed  to  rush  down 
perpendicular  to  the  water  and  whirled  it  up  to  a  height 
of  thirty  feet,  the  spray  stood  hke  a  fog  over  the  whole 
bay,  and  the  atmosphere  glittered  with  hundreds  of 
minute  rainbows.  It  was  beautiful — but  what  if  we 
had  come  into  one  of  the  tornadoes  that  danced  along 
to  our  right  and  left  ?  By  exerting  every  effort  we 
managed  to  reach  the  innermost  corner  of  the  bay  and 
awaited  the  development  of  events.  A  torrential 
rain  supphed  what  still  was  wanted  to  make  the  weather 
quite  ideal ! 

Ahead  of  us  we  had  a  peninsula,  ending  in  a  well- 
marked  point,  and  when  the  gale  had  abated  a  little, 
we  pulled  to  it  and  even  tried  to  get  round  but  were 
driven  back  and  were  glad  to  discover  a  small  crevice 
just  big  enough  to  hold  the  boat.  We  waited  again; 
from  the  point  we  could  overlook  the  lake,  but  what 
we  saw  was  not  promising.  Now  and  then  we  climbed 
up  to  see  if  things  were  improving  and  finally 
resolved  to  risk  another  struggle.  I  do  not  think  we 
shall  ever  forget  it.  The  waves  were  big  enough  for  a 
lifeboat,  and  our  little  nutshell  quite  disappeared, 
but  rose  up  again,  climbed  the  watery  ridge  and 
won.  But  we  could  not  spare  ourselves;  we  had  to 
expend  the  very  last  ounce  of  our  strength  and  energy 
and  still  we  could  hardly  note  that  we  really  were 
advancing. 

The  view  of  the  lake  had  been  rather  limited  until 
now.  A  cry  of  admiration  was  heard,  when  the  west 
part  appeared  behind  a  cape,   exposing  the  gigantic 


LAKE  SAN  MARTIN  253 

glacier  in  all  its  extent  near  the  mouth  of  the  Southern 
Arm.  It  was  as  if  this  sight  spurred  us  to  new  efforts, 
and  over  crests  of  white  foam  which  generally  shared 
their  abimdance  with  us,  we  pulled  towards  the  eastern 
head  of  the  Northern  Arm,  where  we  rested  upon  our 
oars  an  instant,  ready  to  try  a  somewhat  dangerous 
experiment — to  cross  the  arm.  We  had  hardly  left  the 
shelter  of  the  point  behind  when  some  fiu-ious  squalls 
attacked  us  with  such  ferocity  that  we  were  driven  back. 
We  had  been  working  for  thirteen  hours  and  badly 
needed  some  rest. 

Thus  we  stood  at  the  entrance  of  the  fiord,  thirty- eight 
miles  long,  whose  end  was  our  goal.  To  judge  from  the 
appearance  of  the  coast- line,  the  west- shore  afforded 
some  advantages  and  our  first  enterprise  was  to  cross 
the  arm.  Once  again  we  met  heavy  seas  from  two 
directions,  and  it  cost  us  three  hours  very  hard  pulling 
to  cover  two  and  a  half  miles !  We  searched  a  while 
till  we  found  a  place  where  we  could  tie  the  boat  up  out 
of  reach  of  the  breakers.  No  smooth  beach  could  we 
discover.  Do  not  believe,  gentle  reader,  that  the 
whole  thing  is  very  simple — that  you  just  land  if 
something  happens  which  makes  it  desirable  or  neces- 
sary. It  is  not  at  all  so  easy.  For  long  stretches  the 
mountain  sheers  down  at  a  very  sharp  angle  or  even 
vertically  from  a  height  of  several  hundred  feet.  And 
it  is  far  from  being  the  case  that  all  sheltered  places 
are  good.  A  canvas  boat  is  as  fragile  as  an  egg,  especially 
when  one  is  on  a  lake  in  the  Cordilleras,  without  being 
able  to  get  back  over  land  as  we  were  now.  A  hole  in 
the   canvas,    and   farewell !     With   the   greatest   care 


254  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

we  chose  the  place  to  haul  up  the  boat ;  the  best  being 
on  a  beach  of  sand  or  fine  shingle.  Pagels,  who  was  an 
old  sailor,  regarded  himself  as  an  expert  and  responsible 
for  all  our  lives,  and  never  forgot  to  shout  "  gerade 
auf  dem  Kiel"  when  we  hauled  up  the  boat,  and  if 
we  were  not  quick  enough  he  abused  us.  If  I 
got  angry  and  told  him  a  bit  of  my  mind  he  always 
said :  "  Sie  wissen  doch,  Herr  Doktor,  dass  ich 
inuner  aufs  Beste  der  Expedition  arbeite."  And 
nobody  doubted  that  his  intentions  were  the  best  in 
the  world. 

At  last  we  had  entered  the  Northern  Arm.  But  our 
bad  luck  did  not  leave  us.  The  first  day  we  made 
little  more  than  a  mile  when  we  were  once  more  stopped 
by  wind  and  sea,  and  with  the  experience  we  now  had  of 
the  boat  it  really  required  something  to  stop  us.  We  lost 
a  day  and  a  half  waiting.  True  we  knew  that  we  were  in 
•fchile  again.  The  forest  also  had  undergone  some  changes. 
Our  old  evergreens  once  more  played  an  important  part ; 
►^ast  bushes  of  fuchsia  and  even  the  typical  rain- forest 
plant,  copihue  {Philesia  huxifolia),  with  its  large  pink 
flowers  had  reappeared.  At  last  we  could  make  another 
move,  but  our  joy  was  short- Kved  and  we  had  to  camp 
again.  It  was  a  fine  place,  that  reminded  us  very  much 
of  the  old  camp  near  Eio  Azopardo's  mouth.  The 
weather  was  bright,  though  windy,  and  the  fiord 
covered  with  white  crests.  It  had  cost  us  eight  days 
to  reach  this  point,  and  we  could  not  know  how  many 
more  we  should  require  to  reach  the  end  of  the  fiord. 
Probably  we  should  not  gain  much  more  in  our  scientific 
work  than  we  had  done  already.     Our  appetite,  I  am 


LAKE  SAN  MAETIN  255 

sorry  to  say,  had  increased  in  proportion  to  our  hard- 
ships, and  there  was  httle  left  of  our  provisions.  We 
made  a  trip  into  the  forest  to  get  meat,  and  shot  a  deer 
and  some  duckhngs. 

However,  it  was  with  sore  hearts  we  decided  to 
turn  round  without  having  reached  our  goal.  It  made 
us  grumble,  but  there  was  no  help  for  it.  In  order  to 
get  our  clothes  dried,  which  we  needed  very  much, 
and  to  make  a  sail  out  of  two  old  pieces  of  canvas, 
we  stopped  the  night  where  we  were  and  went  back 
on  the  27th.  We  wanted  some  recompense  for  the 
disappointment  and  probable  loss  we  had  sustained 
and  consequently  sailed  along  into  the  Southern  Arm 
to  have  a  look  at  the  great  glacier,  which  we  named 
Ventisquero  Schonmejrr.  The  northern  end  of  the  ice-' 
barrier,  which  is  about  two  miles  and  a  half  long  was' 
barred  by  icebergs,  amongst  which  we  pulled  into  a 
piece  of  open  water.  Here  a  little  episode,  which 
proves  that  we  had  good  luck  sometimes,  took  place. 
We  wanted  to  get  a  snapshot  of  the  boat  in  the  ice,  and 
to  that  end  I  jumped  ashore  on  a  rock ;  the  picture  had 
a  fine  background  of  icebergs  from  fifty  to  sixty  feet 
high  above  the  water.  Hardly  had  we  got  away  from 
the  unpleasant  company,  when  the  largest  by  which  we 
had  lain  the  moment  before  lost  its  balance  and  cap- 
sized with  a  great  noise.  Had  we  still  been  there  the 
expedition  would  have  come  to  a  quick  and  dramatic 
end.  Further  away  we  landed  on  the  ice- barrier,  where 
it  rested  against  a  small  mountain,  either  a  peninsula 
or  a  small  island,  half  covered  by  ice.  Quensel  could 
study  the  blocks  in  the  moraine  and  thus  get  an  idea 


256  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

of  the  principal  rocks  in  the  centre  of  the  Cordillera ; 
the  moraines  carried  no  material  from  the  surrounding 
mountains.  We  camped  for  the  night  on  a  promontory 
a  few  hundred  yards  from  the  glacier.  The  wind  had 
died  down,  it  was  perfectly  calm,  and  the  stars  twinkled 
in  a  clear  sky.  Sometimes  there  came  a  thundering 
noise  from  the  great  glacier.  We  went  to  sleep  in 
unusually  high  spirits — no  more  pulling !  Now  the  west 
wind  could  blow  as  much  as  it  Uked,  but  we  could  be 
lazy  and  do  nothing  but  sail. 

Try  to  imagine  our  surprise  when  we  woke  up  to  find 
it  absolutely  calm.  Well,  we  could  pull  for  a  Httle  while, 
surely  the  wind  would  come.  And  it  came — easterly. 
For  the  first  time  we  had  an  easterly  wind,  always 
rare  here.  Our  discontent  over  such  to£sy4j.u:vyr 
meteorological  conditions  was  as  loud  as  it  was  natural. 
The  head  wind  did  not  last  long,  but  it  was  followed  by 
a  dead  calm.  For  two  days  it  did  not  blow  the  shghtest 
puff  till  the  very  last  moment  we  pulled — nine  hours 
the  first,  five  the  second  and  last  day,  and  with  un- 
mingled  satisfaction  we  heard  the  keel  grate  on  the 
bottom  in  the  Boat  Harbour.  It  was  January  28  and 
we  had  gone  eighty- one  miles  on  the  lake. 

We  needed  a  day  to  get  fresh  provisions,  but  were 
then  ready  to  start  again.  The  horses  had  enjoyed 
three  weeks'  complete  rest,  as  Halle  had  got  horses  from 
the  farm  for  his  excursions.  He  was  ready  with  his 
study  of  the  geology  of  this  region :  the  results  belong 
to  the  most  important  obtained  during  the  expedition. 
When  we  rode  away  "  Jeremias  "  was  left  behind  in 
the  corral,  neighing  loudly.     We  abandoned  him  because 


LAKE  SAN  MARTIN  257 

his  back  was  so  bad  that  it  would  take  him  a  couple  of 
weeks  to  get  w^ell  again;  when  he  was  loose  he  only 
distiu-bed  the  discipline  of  our  troop.  But  his  despair 
at  being  separated  from  his  comrades  was  probably- 
very  real. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

ACROSS  THE  SIERRA  DE  LOS  BAGUALES 

It  was  already  late  in  the  day  on  January  28  when  we 
said  good-bye  to  Frank's  estancia.  The  peculiar  basaltic  / 
peak  Cerro  Kachaik  rising  abruptly  2000  feet  above 
the  surrounding  pampas  and  visible  for  a  very  con- 
siderable distance,  was  kept  on  our  left  and  we  headed 
for  Laguna  Tar,  a  lake  bordered  by  extensive  swamps. 
A  small  stream  unites  it  with  Lago  San  Martin,  which 
in  pre-glacial  times  had  its  outlet  through  the  Tar 
depression  towards  the  Atlantic  coast.  By  dint  of 
spur  and  whip  the  marshy  places  were  passed,  and, 
keeping  higher  up  the  slope  south  of  Laguna  Tar  we 
avoided  the  swamps.  We  made  a  halt  at  Mr.  Reeves' 
new  farm  and  stopped  for  the  night.  The  small  company 
were  in  very  comfortable  frame  of  mind  in  spite  of 
the  earthen  floor  and  the  chairs  in  the  shape  of  old 
wooden  boxes,  once  containing  articles  so  inseparably 
associated  with  camp-li£e  as  Danish  butter  and  con- 
densed milk.  And  after  the  master  of  the  house 
had  found  a  motley  company  of  old  tin  and  china  mugs, 
the  grog  had  been  mixed,  and  the  gramophone — never 
wanting — starting  on  its  waltz  tunes,  we  could  not 
help  telling  each  other  how  well  ofi  we  found  ourselves. 
Suddenly  the  trotting  of  horses  sounded  through  the 
night,  and  two  horsemen  came  galloping  up,  welcomed 

258 


ACROSS  THE  SIERRA  DE  LOS  BAGUALES    259 

by  the  barking  of  the  dogs,  unsaddled,  came  in,  and 
got  a  wooden  box  each  to  sit  on.  I  tell  this  only  to 
show  how  small  the  world  is.  We  sat  looking  askance 
at  each  other,  one  of  the  last  arrived  men  and  I,  wonder- 
ing, "  Where  have  I  seen  that  face  before  ?  "  By-and- 
by  the  truth  flashed  upon  us.  He  had  been  on  board 
the  cutter  Chance,  in  which  I  had  made  a  journey 
in  the  Falklands  from  Port  Stanley  to  Port  Louis, 
July  1902.  That  now,  after  six  and  a  half  years  and 
in  spite  of  my  full  beard,  he  was  able  to  recognize  me 
when  we  suddenly  met  in  the  heart  of  Patagonia  I 
could  never  understand.    One  can  never  feel  safe  ! 

There  was  one  drawback  connected  with  our  visits 
to  people :  we  never  got  away  in  proper  time  the  next 
morning.  They  must  always  make  a  spread  for  us 
of  all  they  could  produce,  and  never  understood  that 
we  were  in  a  hurry.  What  did  an  hour  or  two  matter  ? 
The  distance  was  so  great.  Thus  it  was  here  also ; 
they  did  not  let  us  off  without  a  substantial  brealdast. 

Following  a  depression,  we  rose  a  thousand  feet 
and  then  descended  into  the  valley  of  Rio  Shehuen. 
There  was  a  basalt  meseta  in  front  of  us,  called  M.  del 
Viento,  and  we  held  a  short  council  of  war  in  order 
to  decide  upon  the  best  way.  According  to  the  map, 
i\i-<i  ought  to  be  a  choice  of  two  possible  routes,  and  we 
chose  the  one  which  looked  best,  climbed  about  1300 
feet,  descended  into  a  shallow  basin  containing  a  couple 
of  small  lagoons  without  outlet,  and  finally  rode  up  to 
the  pass,  a  well-marked  gap  between  black  basalt  peaks. 
It  is  only  3000  feet  high.  I  saw  how  my  comrades, 
who  were  a  few  steps  ahead,  started  to  cheer  and  wave 


260  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

their  caps  when  they  had  reached  the  highest  point. 
Within  a  minute  I  was  at  their  side.  Below  was  the 
large  sheet  of  Lago  Viedma,  between  the  mountains 
behind  it  a  corner  of  Lago  Argentino,  and  far  away  to 
the  south  the  long,  jagged  line  of  the  Baguales  Moun- 
tains. Behind  these  was  our  goal.  The  meseta  slopes 
gradually  towards  Lake  Viedma,  the  surface  of  which 
is  only  825  feet  above  sea-level.  In  vain  we  looked  for 
a  camping-place  on  the  slope.  We  wanted  to  avoid  the 
detour  to  Rio  Cangrejos  ;  but  nowhere  was  grass,  water, 
or  fuel,  so  we  were  forced  to  seek  that  river.  The  dogs 
kept  up  our  spirits.  They  stopped  and  sniffed  round  a 
bush,  where  an  unmistakable  odour  of  skunk  indicated 
the  reason.  It  had  happened  often  before,  but  generally 
they  had  to  be  contented  with  the  smell.  Here,  however, 
the  wretched  little  beast  sat  ready  to  defend  the  position, 
glaring  defiantly  at  the  enemy.  Wise  by  experience. 
Prince  was  careful,  but  the  innocent  Pavo  threw 
himself  on  the  animal ;  quick  as  lightning  it  turned 
round  and  sent  him  a  well-directed  volley  right  in  his 
face.  He  retired,  rolled  in  the  sand  wild  with  rage,  rushed 
at  it  again,  but  with  the  same  result.  Now  Prince 
also  advanced,  and  the  two  companions  did  not  leaVe 
the  battle-ground  till  the  skunk  was  changed  into  a 
shapeless  mass.  All  the  afternoon  they  behaved  as 
if  they  had  lost  their  wits — they  indeed  tried  to  run 
away  from  themselves  to  get  rid  of  the  horrible  smell, 
making  us  double  up  with  laughter.  Two  days  later 
they  still  perfumed  the  surroundings  with  the  nauseous 
smell. 
Rio  Cangerjo  has  a  canyon  of  the  kind  one  does  not 


ACROSS  THE  SIERRA  DE  LOS  BAGUALES    261 

discover  till  one  is  close  to  it.  Down  in  the  bottom 
nature  was  different  altogether — any  amount  of  fuel, 
rich  grass,  and  clear  water.  Next  day  we  passed 
the  east  end  of  Lago  Viedma.  One  has  a  Very  fine 
view  from  there.  The  shape  is  still  more  regular  than 
that  of  Lago  Buenos  Aires.  Hardly  can  one  imagine 
a  greater  difference  between  the  two  extremities  of  an 
Andine  lake,  and  here  one  is  able  to  observe  it  at  a 
single  glance.  To  the  west  a  gigantic  glacier  comes 
down  to  the  water  between  fantastic  summits  ;  to  the 
east  the  low,  sandy  pampas  stretches  as  far  as  one  can 
see.  We  rode  down  to  the  shore  to  the  waving  fields  of 
Stipa-grass,  the  long,  silky  brushes  floating  eastward 
on  a  fresh  breeze.  The  further  we  came  east  and  south 
the  more  barren  was  the  ground,  and  during  the  wholci^ 
trip  we  never  saw  a  tract  more  bare  than  this.  Large^x^ 
parts  are  almost  desert-like.  Save  for  some  armadilloes 
the  camp  was  quite  inanimate. 

Lago  Viedma  empties  into  Lago  Argentino  by  means 
of  a  broad  river,  called  Rio  de  la  Leona,  in  whose  valley 
we  had  hoped  to  find  pasture  for  the  horses,  but  were 
greatly  disappointed.  At  two  places  we  saw  great  piles 
of  guanaco  bones,  of  which  the  explanation  was  that  the^^ 
guanacos  have  certain  places  where  they  lie  down  to 
die. 

We  camped  near  the  outlet.  Our  horses  had  hardly 
any  grass,  and  we  tried  to  keep  an  eye  on  them.  After 
it  had  got  dark  Pagels  went  out  and  drove  them  down 
to  the  river,  but  nothing  was  of  any  use,  for  they  wan- 
dered far  and  our  start  the  next  day  was  much  delayed. 

We  followed  the  east  shore  of  Rio  Leona.    At  first 


262  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

the  ground  did  not  present  any  difficulties,  but  after  a 
while  the  valley  changed  into  one  of  the  finest  canyons 
in  South  Patagonia.  Thanks  to  the  paths  made,  first 
by  guanacos  and  afterwards  by  horses,  one  is  able 
to  pass  the  barranca,  though  the  utmost  care  is  necessary. 
Besides,  we  were  already  prepared  for  what  was  to 
come,  for  Mr.  Reeves,  who  knew  the  way,  had  told  us 
that  we  should  have  to  climb  the  barranca  and  continue 
at  a  higher  altitude.  We  found  a  ravine  where  we 
could  lead  the  horses,  climbed  high  up,  and  came  into 
a  country  the  like  of  which  we  had  never  seen  before. 
It  is  difficult  to  imagine  anything  more  desolate  and 
barren.  In  every  direction  a  wilderness  of  hills,  ridges,/^ 
and  ravines,  all  the  landscape  of  a  yellowish- grey  colour, 
with  nowhere  a  green  blade  or  a  drop  of  water.  The 
air  was  oppressively  hot ;  not  one  sound  broke  the// 
absolute  silence,  not  a  living  soul  was  seen  or  heard. 
Thus  it  must  feel  to  travel  on  a  planet  where  life  has 
died  out.  One  has  to  walk  with  great  care,  for  the  ground^ 
is  full  of  small,  scarcely  visible  cracks,  which  open  below 
into  large,  funnel-shaped  holes,  probably  formed  by 
water  in  the  spring.  The  horses  were  not  accustomed 
to  such  pitfalls,  and  would  have  gone  right  down  had 
we  not  looked  well  after  them.  We  felt  quite  uneasy 
in  this  desert,  and  welcomed  the  murmur  of  the  river 
and  the  fresh  breeze  with  joy.  In  outward  appearance  , 
the  landscape  reminds  one  of  the  famous  "  loess  "  iiy 
China,  though  geologically  there  is  no  resemblance. 

The  ground  along  by  the  river  made  us  very  tired, 
and  with  longing  we  looked  for  human  dwellings,  know- 
ing that  a  German  settler,  Karl  Fuhr,  should  live  some- 


\  IKW    (IF    I'A.Ml'AS    NKAR    LaKK    ARI.ICNTI  NO. 


1)i;ai>  LANii.iCAri:,  KA.-.T  ui    Li.iina   Rivkk. 


ACROSS  THE  SIERRA  DE  LOS  BAGUALES   263 

where  on  the  other  side  of  the  river.  The  river  must  be 
crossed  in  a  boat,  and  as  soon  as  we  got  sight  of  the 
house  we  made  a  signal-fire.  When  we  came  down  to 
the  river  he  met  us  and  took  us  and  the  luggage  across. 
The  horses  were  left  on  the  other  side,  the  yegua  with 
maneas  on  and  one  horse  with  a  tether  ;  thus  we  felt 
easy  in  spite  of  the  bad  grass.  Carlos  Fuhr  is  well 
known  throughout  Patagonia,  and  his  yarns  and 
adventures  would  fill  a  book.  He  was  there  at  the 
time  when  fortresses  were  built  to  check  the  Indians, 
when  the  veil  of  fairy-tales  still  hung  over  Patagonia.. 
He  had  tried  a  little  of  everywhere,  but  at  last  seemed  to 
have  settled  for  good.  Especially  is  he  known  for  one 
achievement :  he  wounded  and  captured  Ascensio 
Brunei,  the  horse-thief  and  murderer,  the  "  wild  man  " 
of  Patagonia,  who  appeared  when  least  expected  and 
disappeared  as  suddenly  as  he  came,  the  outlaw  whose 
fame  reaches  from  Nahuelhuapi  to  Ushuaia,  who  had 
frustrated  the  efforts  of  all  Patagonian  policemen.  At 
our  request  Fuhr  kindly  promised  to  transport  us  across 
Rio  Santa  Cruz  in  his  ferry-boat.  Thus  we  saved  both 
time  and  money,  the  road  striking  the  river  further 
east,  where  there  is  a  holiche.  The  landlord  has  a  ferry, 
but  to  go  there  would  have  necessitated  a  detour,  and 
the  man  is  known  for  keeping  his  guests  under  all 
sorts  of  excuses  ;  he  postpones  the  crossing  and  one  has 
to  pay  high  prices  for  accommodation. 

We  wanted  to  cross  on  the  day  of  our  arrival,  but 
according  to  Fuhr  it  was  blowing  too  hard  ;  the  horses 
would  meet  a  head-wind  and  perhaps  not  be  able  to 
swim  against  it.    On  February  2  we  got  away.    It  was 


264  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

very  long  before  we  secured  the  horses,  for  the  watch- 
horse  had  broken  his  rope  and  there  was  no  trace  of 
any  of  them.  We  searched  in  all  directions,  till  at  last 
we  found  them  mixed  up  with  other  horses  and  the  mare 
without  maneas.  The  reason  of  all  this  confusion  was 
love,  in  the  shape  of  a  stallion,  who,  for  Tecla's  sake,  had 
abandoned  his  harem.  Down  at  the  river  Santa  Cruz, 
the  outlet  of  the  Lakes  Argentino  and  Viedma,  we  met 
two  other  parties  waiting  to  cross  with  their  tropillas. 
One  of  them  was  the  inspector  of  police  at  Lago  Argen- 
tino, the  other  a  man  from  the  Baker  Company  on  his 
way  to  Punta  Arenas  with  the  last  peons.  Through 
Captain  Steele  he  had  heard  about  us,  and  now  brought 
news  from  him.  A  steamer  had  called  in  Baker,  Steele 
and  the  other  men  had  gone  away  in  her,  and  the  farm 
was  now  empty,  cattle  and  sheep  running  wild. 

The  small  ferry  runs  on  a  thin  steel  cable,  and  only 
people  and  luggage  are  carried  by  it.  The  horses  had 
to  swim  the  distance  of  nearly  400  yards.  They  were 
driven  in  with  loud  shouts  till  they  got  out  of  their 
depth.  It  was  a  fine  sight  to  see  the  three  troops 
swimming  in  the  strong  current,  which  took  them  more 
and  more  out  of  their  course,  but  at  the  same  time  we 
felt  anxious.  It  is  not  uncommon  that  weaker  horses 
are  caught  by  the  current  and  drowned,  and  we  had 
hardly  any  experience  of  our  horses  as  swimmers. 
With  our  glasses  we  followed  them  eagerly.  Vingel 
was  the  first  man  home,  then  came  Trumf  and 
Isac.  One  after  another  came  out,  shook  hunself, 
and  was  all  right.  We  felt  relieved  when  they  were 
all  in  safety.    Now  we  crossed — the  ferry  driven  by  the 


ACROSS  THE  SIERRA  DE  LOS  BAGUALES    265 

current  in  every  direction — caught  our  animals  and  bade 
farewell  to  our  fellow  passengers.  They  took  the  usual 
route  south,  but  we  set  our  course  on  the  Baguales 
Mountains,  south  of  the  lake,  where  we  pitched  our 
camp  that  night.  Quensel  had  now  crossed  his  track  of 
the  summer  before.  In  Mr.  Cattle's  farm,  not  far 
from  the  shore,  he  had  his  headquarters  for  some  tune, 
and  from  there  he  undertook  an  interesting  boat-trip 
which  he  relates  in  the  next  chapter.  His  memories 
of  Estancia  Cattle  were  so  pleasant  that  he  would  not 
pass  at  a  distance  of  some  miles  without  shaking  hands 
with  his  old  friends ;  I  myself  very  much  wanted 
to  visit  Cerro  Buenos  Aires,  while  Halle  and  Pagels 
would  continue  up  towards  the  pass  over  the  mountains 
and  camp  by  the  last  bushes  for  the  sake  of  the  fuel. 

We  saddled  Flax  and  Johansson  early  in  the  morning 
and  made  west.  It  was  a  pleasure  to  set  them  at  a 
gallop,  for  with  the  packhorses  we  had  generally  been 
confined  to  a  walk  or  trot,  and  now  found  them  as  good 
as  the  horses  we  borrowed  for  our  excursions  round 
the  settlements.  The  farm  we  now  went  to  visit  is 
pleasantly  situated  on  the  north  slope  of  Cerro  Buenos 
Aires  between  two  forest-patches.  The  master  of  the 
house  was  not  in,  but  we  were  welcomed  by  his  partner, 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  figures  of  the  extensive 
gallery  one  is  able  to  call  to  mind  after  a  long  journey. 
She  was  the  Amazon  of  Patagonia,  and  I  had  heard  of 
her  before.  When  she  comes  walking  towards  you 
dressed  like  a  man,  with  hair  cut  and  pipe  in  mouth, 
nobody  could  tell  that  a  woman,  and  an  educated, 
intelligent  English  lady  of  a  very  good  family,  is  before 


266  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

him.  The  equal  of  any  man,  she  takes  part  in  the  daily 
work  on  the  farm,  throws  her  lasso  like  a  gaucho,  or 
digs  in  her  garden,  where  there  are  cauliflowers  as  well 
as  strawberries.  I  am  afraid  my  reader  may  think 
her  a  disagreeable  person  only  wanting  to  get  herself 
talked  about,  and  at  a  tea-party  in  Punta  Arenas 
her  very  name  is  enough  to  calif  orth  a  cry  of  indignation. 
But  do  not  form  an  opinion  too  hastily.  Nobody 
comes  to  Cattle's  farm  with  an  unfavourable  precon- 
ceived opinion  without  leaving  it  with  quite  another, 
and,  like  myself,  finding  the  woman  gaucho  a  highly 
interesting  and  genial  person.  We  have  nothing  to  do, 
however,  with  her  story — it  is  a  romance  as  romantic 
as  any.  For  the  last  seven  years  she  had  not  left  the 
farm. 

According  to  our  agreement  we  were  to  join  the 
caravan  on  the  4th.  We  stopped  for  the  night  and  made 
an  excursion  to  Cerro  Buenos  Ahes,  where  one  gets  a 
splendid  view  over  the  lake.  Up  there,  on  the  stony 
slopes,  a  disaster  long  expected  happened  :  my  old 
boots  refused  to  serve  any  more.  I  had  long  foreseen 
the  catastrophe,  but  in  vain  tried  to  get  a  pair  large 
enough.  Most  people  in  Patagonia  seem  to  have 
small  feet,  and  those  who  have  not  had  no  boots  to 
spare.  The  result  was  that  I  had  to  leave  Cattle 
without  any  and  pass  the  Baguales  range  in  a  pair  of 
slippers,  which,  however,  is  not  as  bad  as  it  sounds, 
for  one  is  able  to  ride  most  of  the  way.  It  was  already 
late  when  we  left  the  farm,  and  in  a  gallop  we  made 
for  Rio  Centinela — which  we  were  to  follow  up  to 
the  pass.     We  looked  for  the  tracks  of  our  caravan 


ACROSS  THE  SIERRA  DE  LOS  BAGUALES    267 

in  vain,  although,  some  passages  along  the  river  arc  so 
narrow  that  one  has  to  ride  in  single  file.  It  grew  dark  ; 
still  no  trace  of  a  camp.  We  kept  high  up  along  the 
barranca  to  get  a  better  view,  but  the  distance  to  the  last 
calafate  bushes  was  greater  than  we  had  thought,  and 
it  was  already  night  before  we  saw  the  fire.  Halle 
told  us  that  two  strange  horses  had  joined  the  tropilla, 
and  we  resolved  to  let  them  help  us  across,  should  they 
still  be  there  in  the  morning.  They  were,  so  we 
saddled  them,  and  found  them  to  be  a  pair  of  good 
horses.  Both  of  them  were  marked,  probably  left  behind 
by  some  traveller,  and  we  let  them  go  when  we  were 
on  the  other  side.  Sierra  de  los  Baguales,  named  after 
the  wild  horses  found  there  in  old  times — in  other  parts 
we  had  seen  such,  as  well  as  wild  cattle — makes  a  very 
irregular  impression,  thanks  to  the  basaltic  cover.  The 
pass  itself  is  very  picturesque,  with  its  mighty  pillars 
and  masses  of  stone  in  the  shape  of  ruined  castles  and 
fortresses.  The  way  along  the  Centinela  valley  cannot 
be  called  bad  in  comparison  with  what  we  were  used  to  ; 
there  is  indeed  much  boggy  ground,  but  one  can  get 
round  most  of  it.  The  caravan  went  ahead  of  me, 
for  in  spite  of  my  soft  slippers  I  crossed  the  pass  on  foot 
and  secured  a  rich  harvest  of  Alpine  plants.  Guanacos 
were  plentiful  and  very  tame,  and  our  dogs  were  very 
energetic  in  hunting  them,  but  without  result,  for  the 
young  were  big  enough  to  follow  their  parents. 

We  had  crossed  the  wall  between  wild  life  and  civi- 
lization. In  front  of  us  was  the  part  of  Chile  called 
the  Magellan  Territories,  South  Patagonia,  colonized 
throughout.    Within  a  couple  of  days  we  should  get 


268  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

into  communication  with  the  rest  of  the  world;  the 
post  was  waiting  for  us,  and  there  is  a  telephone  line 
to  Punta  Arenas.  We  had  taken  the  decisive  step.  On 
the  south  side  of  the  pass  originates  Rio  Baguales,  the 
valley  which  we  followed  till  we  came  across  a  small 
calafate  thicket,  which  afforded  us  some  fuel. 

The  last  camp  !    The  hot  asado  over  the  last  camp- 
fire,   at  least  with  the   whole   caravan.    Certainly  it 
was  high  time  that  this  long  journey  came  to  an  end, 
but  we  thought  wdth  regret  of  all  the  pleasant  hours 
spent  round  the  fire,  and  with  unmixed  satisfaction 
we  looked  back  on  the  past  months  with  their  thousands 
of  varied  memories.    For  the  last  time  we  struck  camp, 
followed  the  river  another  couple  of  miles,  and  came 
down  on  the  slope  of  Cerro  Contreras,  where  we  soon 
found  a  road  and  where  a  strong  smell  of  creosote 
met  us,  showing  that  a  "  dip  "  was  in  progress  some- 
where near  by.     We  soon  caught  sight  of  the  large 
iron  shed,  and  rode  into  a  well-kept  farm  where  dipping 
was  going  on.    It  was  one  of  the  estcmcias  belonging  to 
the    "  Sociedad  Esplotadora   de  Tiferra   del  Fuego  "  ; 
below  I  shall  say  something  about  its  influence  on  the 
history    of    South    Patagonia.     We    were    very    well 
received ;  the  manager  even  lent  me  a  pair  of  boots 
which  were  big  enough.    From  here  we  could  telephone 
to  Cerro  Castillo,  the  central  estancia,  where  we  spoke 
with  Mr.  Burbury,  the  chief  there,  whose  acquaintance 
we  had  made  at  Punta  Arenas.    He  welcomed  us  back 
and  told  us  that  a  big  mail  lay  waiting  for  us.     We  left 
Halle  behind  ;    fossiliferous  layers  had  been  reported 
in  the  neighbourhood,  but  no  specialist  had  ever  visited 


ACROSS  THE  SIERRA  DE  LOS  BAGUALES      269 

them.  Quensel  and  I  continued  on  to  Cerro  Castillo, 
the  headquarters  of  the  company.  Never  before  had  I 
found  our  progress  so  slow  ;  the  reins  seemed  to  burn 
our  fingers,  and  with  joy  we  hailed  the  first  glunpse 
of  the  big  settlement,  where  we  stayed  in  the  manager's 
quarters.  Two  boxes  of  letters  and  papers  waited, 
for  it  was  four  months  since  we  had  any  news,  and  far 
into  the  night  we  stayed  up  reading,  surrounded  by  the 
mail  spread  out  over  table,  chairs,  and  bed. 

Before  I  go  on  to  describe  our  excursions  in  South 
Patagonia  some  words  on  the  history  of  its  colonization 
might  be  appropriate  here.  After  the  foundation  of 
Punta  Arenas,  in  1843,  Chileans  as  well  as  strangers 
started  to  settle  along  the  Straits,  mostly  for  sheep- 
farming,  but  also  to  look  for  gold  or  other  valuable 
metals.  Many  people  in  Chile  did  not  believe  much 
in  the  future  of  the  colony,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the 
region  was  unknown  to  them  and  reported  as  being 
hardly  habitable.  However,  civilization  spread  over 
the  Brunswick  Peninsula  and  into  Tierra  del  Fuego, 
and  finally  the  Ultima  Esperanza  district,  which 
interests  us  more  especially,  was  also  populated. 
This  was  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineties.  At  first  the 
colonists  settled  down  without  paying  any  tributes 
or  taxes  and  the  land  was  apportioned  by  private 
agreement.  In  1884  the  Government  assumed  control 
and  the  first  fixed  lots  were  given  on  leasehold  tenure. 
South  Patagonia  had  already  proved  to  be  a  land  of 
the  future  where  sheep-farming  might  become  a  source 
of  wealth  for  many,  and  voices  were  soon  heard  arguing 
that  the  State  should  sell  the  land.    Without  being 


270  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

owner  of  the  soil  nobody  would  sink  either  money 
or  labour  in  it,  but  a  sort  of  sweating  system  was  intro- 
duced in  order  to  make  the  greatest  possible  amount  of 
money  in  the  shortest  space  of  time.  It  was  very  long 
before  the  Government  consented  to  listen  to  the 
complaints  from  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  and  when  at 
last  something  was  done  it  was  done  in  a  manner  hardly 
likely  to  satisfy  the  just  demands  of  the  farmers.  In 
1902  it  was  resolved  to  dispose  of  one  million  hectares 
by  auction,  but  everything  was  done  in  such  a  hurry 
that  many  colonists  had  no  time  to  arrange  their 
business  affairs,  and  the  auction  was  to  be  held  in — 
Santiago  !  The  auction  was  postponed,  and  in  1903 
part  of  the  land  was  sold,  divided  into  ninety-five  lots. 
Only  in  the  Ultima  Esperanza  district  had  everything 
remained  as  it  was. 

The  first  estancia  there  was  started  in  1893,  and  by 
the  beginning  of  the  next  century  there  were  a  score  of 
flourishing  settlements,  life  and  movement  grew  apace 
amongst  the  mixed  English  and  Scotch  population, 
and  Punta  Arenas  increased  rapidly.  Then  a  decree 
was  issued  ordering  a  large  piece  of  land  to  be  put  up 
for  auction  in  Santiago  on  March  15,  1905.  People 
were  attacked  by  a  veritable  fever.  In  a  few  days'  time 
half  a  dozen  companies  had  been  formed  with  big 
capitals,  and  in  order  to  save  their  homes  the  colonists 
formed  themselves  into  one  company,  the  ''United 
Estancias  of  Ultima  Esperanza."  At  the  auction  there 
were  wild  scenes,  enormous  bids  were  made,  and  lots 
were  sold  at  prices  ten  times  their  true  value.  The 
result  was  that  most  of  the  purchasers  could  not  pay 


ACKOSS  THE  SIERRA  DE  LOS  BAGUALES    271 

at  the  proper  time — ^for  the  companies'  capitals  existed 
mostly  on  paper — they  lost  their  rights,  and  another 
date  was  fixed  for  another  sale.  Meanwhile  the  Sociedad 
Esplotadora,  which  owned  large  estates  in  Tierra  del 
Fuego,  appeared  on  the  scene.  With  a  big  joint  capital 
at  its  back  it  entered  the  field  and  acquired  almost  the 
whole  district.  The  colonists  had  to  surrender  uncon- 
ditionally and  take  what  it  pleased  the  company  to 
pay  them  for  houses  and  fixtures,  the  cosy  homes  were 
broken  up  and  Cerro  Castillo  made  the  headquarters. 
The  company  now  has  about  one  million  sheep.  I  can 
hardly  believe  that  the  revolution  was  favourable  to 
Chile's  interests,  and  I  daresay  that  is  a  rather  ugly 
page  in  the  history  of  a  so-called  democratic  people. 
Men  who  knew  Patagonia  before  and  now  say  that  the 
"star  of  Ultima  Esperanza  sank  when  the  all-mighty 
company  became  its  master.  Personally  we  owe  much 
to  its  leading  men,  Mr.  A.  Cameron  of  Punta  Arenas  and 
Mr.  T.  Buxbury  of  Cerro  Castillo. 


/r 


CHAPTEK    XVII 

LAGO  ARGENTINO 

Thanks  to  the  kindness  of  Quensel,  I  am  able  to  give 
some  details  of  his  interesting  and  perilous  voyagings 
on  Lago  Argentino.  This  big  lake  has  the  typical 
Andine  character ;  its  western  branches  run  far  into 
the  mountains  and  receive  extensive  glaciers  from  the 
inland  ice.  Quensel  went  on  horseback  to  the  end  of 
the  south  arm  and  to  Lago  Frio,  but  in  order  to  continue 
his  work  to  the  most  westerly  part  he  had  to  take  to 
the  water.  There  was  in  Cattle's  farm  an  old  canvas 
boat,  rather  dilapidated  but  still  usable,  of  the  same 
pattern  used  by  us  on  Lago  Belgrano.  Here  follows 
Quensel's  narrative  : 

"At  sunrise  on  January  13  (1908)  we  finally 
got  away,  after  having  waited  two  days  on  the 
shore  for  calm  weather.  From  the  very  first  moment 
iEolus  was  not  very  gracious  to  us.  A  surface  like  a 
mirror  and  a  blazing  sun  encouraged  us  to  set  out 
on  the  lake,  but  we  had  just  gone  so  far  that  it  was  too 
late  to  turn  back  when  the  first  black  line  appeared 
announcing  a  gale  of  wind,  closely  followed  by  a  white 
line  of  foam,  and  the  water  was  flung  more  than  thirty 
or  forty  feet  into  the  air.  To  pull  against  one  of  these 
squalls  was  impossible,  and  the  best  thing  to  do  would 
have  been  to  land,  but  often  there  were  steep  cliffs 

272 


LACO  ARGENTINO  273 

all  round  and  the  only  cliance  was  to  turn  the  s'ern 
against  the  sea,  which  threatened  to  crush  the  small, 
heavily  laden  boat.  But  Pagels  had  not  sailed  round 
the  globe  for  nothing ;  his  skill  served  us  in  good  stead, 
and  everything  turned  out  all  right,  though  more  than 
once  we  had  a  narrow  escape. 

"Our  first  destination  was  the  Bismarck  Glacier  in 
the  Southern  Arm,  which  we  reached  in  two  days. 
Half-way  we  had  met  some  big  icebergs  and  were 
prepared  for  what  was  to  come.  They  measured  about 
a  hundred  feet  above  the  water.  The  glacier  in 
question  was  first  visited  and  described  by  Professor 
Hauthal,  and  is  of  special  interest.  From  the  inland 
ice  it  protrudes  more  than  a  mile  out  into  the  water  ; 
the  height  of  its  front  wall,  crowned  by  innumerable 
pillars  and  needles  of  pure  ice,  varies  between  sixty 
and  a  hundred  feet.  In  front  of  it  was  a  broad  belt  of 
drift-ice,  but  we  navigated  carefully  through  the  '  pack,' 
which  gives  the  branch  its  name,  Brazo  de  los  Tempanos. 

"We  camped  on  the  south  side  of  the  glacier  and 
spent  the  following  days  in  studying  the  ice.  What 
makes  the  Bismarck  Glacier  so  remarkable  is  that, 
in  contrast  to  all  other  glaciers  in  South  Patagonia 
that  I  have  seen,  it  is  advancing  rather  rapidly.  Without 
exception  the  others  withdraw,  sometimes  indeed  so 
fast  that  the  vegetation  is  not  able  to  follow,  so  that 
there  is  a  sharp  limit  where  the  ice  stood  before.  But 
this  one  forces  its  way  through  the  high  forest  on  both 
sides,  crushing  everything  in  its  way  ;  I  saw  trees,  still 
green,  that  had  been  knocked  down  by  the  ice,  and 
under  the  very  edge  shrubs  still  alive  peeped  forth. 


274  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

We  were  able  to  reach  the  southern  end  of  this  fiord. 
I  walked  on  foot  to  Lago  Frio  and  climbed  a  mountain. 
BeloWj  in  a  southerly  direction,  was  Lago  Dickson 
nestling  among  green  woods ;  in  the  west  were  Mount 
Stokes  and  the  glaciers  from  the  inland  cover,  the  largest 
dividing  into  two  branches,  one  extending  to  Lago 
Dickson,  the  other  to  Lago  Frio.  Thus  I  stood  on  the 
water-parting  between  Lago  Argentino  and  the  Payne 
region,  between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific — the  water 
from  one  and  the  same  glacier  seeking  such  diSerent 
ways. 

"  We  left  the  southern  fiord  in  order  to  get  into  the 
northern.  The  entrance  is  narrow,  but  inside  it  v/idens 
into  quite  a  system  of  inlets,  of  which  different  maps 
give  different  ideas.  A  narrow  gap  called  Hell  Gate  is 
the  entrance  ;  outside  we  waited  one  day  before  we 
could  venture  in,  and  late  in  the  afternoon  of  January  31 
we  got  through.  Everything  indicated  that  we  should 
have  a  calm  night,  so  we  resolved  to  row  as  long  as  we 
could.  Hour  after  hour  passed.  Above  in  the  twilight 
hung  the  tremendous  cliffs,  sometunes  as  high  as  3000 
feet;  in  the  half -light  summer  night  we  could  just  make 
out  the  few  places  where  we  could  seek  refuge  in  case  of 
a  sudden  storm.  At  midnight  the  moon  rose,  the  larger 
icebergs  shone  with  a  ghostly  glimmer,  their  fantastic 
outlines  assiuning  the  most  marvellous  shapes.  With 
frequent  changes  we  made  good  speed.  We  knew  that 
the  storm  was  only  gathering  its  strength,  and  our  object 
must  be  to  take  advantage  of  every  minute.  At  3  a.m. 
we  caught  sight  of  a  big  glacier  glowing  with  a  certain 
peculiar  light  as  if  it  were  luminous.  Nothing  is  more 
difficult  than  to  judge  the  distance  to  a  glacier  or  an  ice- 


The  Bismarck  Glacier,   Lake  Arcentino. 


-»  ■'^*--    ^ 


W  /-^i^^  ..J*" 


The  Ui'SAi.A  Glacier,  Lake  Arcentino. 
(Tlie  biggest  in  Taiagonia.) 


Icebergs  and  Canvas  Hoat,   Lake  Arcikntino. 


LAGO  ARGENTINO  275 

berg  ill  the  darkness.  One  believes  oneself  to  be  close 
to  a  piece  of  ice,  or  even  turns  aside  to  avoid  a  collision 
— and  there  is  half  an  hour's  pull  to  it ! 

"  At  dawn  we  landed  on  a  low  promontory,  where  the 
fiord  divides  into  three  branches,  each  of  them  ending 
in  a  glacier.  Large  masses  of  ice  were  adrift  here — 
one  could  very  well  imagine  one  was  in  a  polar  country. 
The  next  day  we  wanted  to  pull  into  the  southern  branch. 
Tired  as  we  were  after  the  strenuous  night,  we  overslept 
oui'selves,  and  the  sun  was  high  when  we  were  ready  for 
a  fresh  start.  The  clouds  had  begun  to  chase  each  other 
across  the  sky,  portending  wind.  Hastily  we  loaded  the 
boat  and  set  out,  but  in  a  couple  of  hours  the  first 
gust  came,  and  a  strong  swell  from  the  bottom  of  the 
inlet  showed  us  that  it  was  blowing  hard  in  there  already. 
We  followed  the  eastern  shore  ;  it  was  steep  and  inacces- 
sible, and  a  heavy  sea  broke  on  the  rocks.  There  was 
no  time  for  long  consultations.  We  chose  a  place  where 
a  shelf  ran  out  into  the  water,  pulled  to  it,  and  I  jumped 
ashore  ready  to  hold  the  boat.  It  was  an  anxious 
moment.  Up  to  my  knees  in  water,  I  managed  to  hold 
it ;  pots  and  pans  and  sleeping-bags,  cameras  and 
haunches  of  venison  were  hurled  up  on  to  the  shelf. 
We  bore  our  craft  out  of  reach  of  the  waves  and  were 
safe.  But  not  a  moment  too  soon,  for  five  minutes 
later  we  should  not  have  been  able  to  land  there. 

"  We  had  now  time  to  examine  our  refuge  more 
closely.  The  small  ledge  was  overgrown  with  shrubs  ; 
above  rose  a  precipitous  wall.  The  ten  square  yards 
served  our  purpose,  and  with  the  teapot  and  the  frying- 
pan  over  the  fire  we  spent  a  comfortable  night  in  our 
prison.    We  tried  again  the  next  day,  but  in  vain,  and  I 


276  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

resolved  to  go  back  and  devote  my  energies  to  the  north 
glacier  and  the  big  mountains  round  it.  At  nightfall 
two  days  later  we  landed  on  a  beech  with  high  forest 
in  the  background  and  a  row  of  large  icefloes  outside. 
The  glacier  itself  was  hidden  by  a  promontory.  The 
following  night  we  had  a  most  remarkable  experience, 
that  might  have  had  very  serious  consequences.  As 
usual  we  had  pulled  our  boat  high  up  on  the  shore, 
sixty  feet  from  the  water  and  ten  or  twelve  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  lake.  Wishing  to  get  away  at  sunrise, 
we  went  to  bed  early.  At  dawn  I  was  roused  by  Pagels, 
who  stood  in  the  tent  door,  ripping  out  with  a 
fine  flow  of  strong  language  :  '  Himmel !  Herrgott ! 
Sakrament !  Donnerwetter  noch  ein  Mai !  '  it  came 
without  a  pause.  I  sprang  up  to  see  what  had  happened, 
supposing  that  a  fox  had  made  off  with  some  of  our 
geese,  a  trick  Mr.  Eeynard  had  played  us  before.  But 
the  sight  I  beheld  drove  me  to  complete  Pagel's  morning 
prayer  in  fluent  Swedish.  The  broad  strip  of  beach 
where  we  had  landed  had  disappeared,  innmnerable 
small  icefloes  floated  round  almost  to  our  tent ;  our 
boat  was  gone — on  the  spot  where  it  had  been  left  a 
small,  deep  blue  iceberg  was  aground.  Where  was  the 
boat  ?  What  had  happened  ?  How  were  we  to  reach 
human  habitations  again  ?  These  questions  whirled 
through  my  brain  at  the  very  first  moment.  To  two 
of  them  there  was  no  answer — what  about  the  last  ? 
The  future  looked  dark  enough — a  march  of  four  or  five 
days  across  the  unknown  Alps  north  of  the  lake  was  not 
a  very  encouraging  prospect.  But  we  had  good  luck. 
We  found  the  boat  800  yards  further  down,  stuck  fast 


LAGO  ARGENTINO  277 

between  two  huge  blocks.  And  later  we  learnt  the 
explanation  of  the  catastrophe.  In  front  of  the  glacier 
was  a  barrier  about  three  miles  long  and  one  and 
a  half  broad;  large  icebergs  were  piled  on  each  other, 
and  the  interstices  were  filled  up  with  smaller  pieces  of 
ice.  It  looked  lilvc  a  field  of  screw-ice  in  the  Arctic 
sea.  We  understood  that  the  glacier  had  discharged 
all  this  ice  during  the  night ;  it  dammed  up  the  inlet, 
making  the  water  in  the  narrow  place  rise  nearly 
fourteen  feet.  Gradually  it  recovered  its  usual  level. 
The  gigantic  glacier  with  the  ice-barrier  presented  a 
splendid  sight.  I  have  called  it  the  Upsala  Glacier  ; 
it  is  the  largest  I  have  seen  in  Patagonia,  the  front  wall 
attaining  a  length  of  not  less  than  eight  or  nine  miles. 
The  wall  was  a  hundred  feet  high,  more  or  less.  On 
the  flanks  magnificent  granite  mountains  rose  ;  in  the 
background  there  was  a  marked  depression,  for  '  Ven- 
tisquero  Upsala  '  comes  directly  from  the  inland  ice. 
During  an  excursion  on  foot  up  in  a  side  valley  I  gained 
my  northernmost  point.  With  regret  I  had  to  go  back 
and  commence  my  return  journey.  The  boat  being 
heavier  than  ever,  we  had  an  adventurous  run  through 
Hell  Gate.  Pagels  ran  before  the  wind  as  far  as  he 
could,  and  I  had  my  hands  full  baling  with  my  hat, 
the  most  capacious  baler  I  could  find." 

After  two  days  Quensel  was  back  in  Cattle's  farm,  and 
from  there  went  to  Ultima  Esperanza,  whence  he  made 
a  trip  to  the  Balmaceda  Channel.  His  arrival  in  Punta 
Arenas,  where  he  joined  the  rest  of  the  expedition,  has 
already  been  related. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

OUR  JOURNEY  TO  PUNTA  ARENAS 

On  February  8  Quensel  went  to  visit  Mr.  Ferrier,  of 
Estancia  Payne.  I  had  to  stay  till  I  had.  gone  through 
my  collections,  which  badly  needed  attention.  The 
cook,  a  Malay,  was  very  fond  of  looking  at  my  her- 
barium, but  wondered  why  I  made  so  much  fuss  over 
plants  good  for  nothing,  either  for  food  or  for  medicine. 
I  doubt  whether  I  was  able  to  explain  the  reason  of 
my  interest,  and  probably  I  left  with  him"  the  remem- 
brance of  a  more  or  less  crazy  fellow.  I  had  also  to 
write  some  letters  and  telegrams,  which  Mr.  Burbury 
took  with  him  to  Punta  Arenas.  On  the  9th  I  was 
ready,  and  rode  away  west  accompanied  by  Pagels  and 
a  packhorse.  The  road  led  through  the  well-fenced 
camps  of  the  company.  Some  rounded  mountains 
with  groves  of  roble  forest  gave  the  first  idea  of  the 
Andes.  We  passed  some  buildings  ;  it  was  the  late 
Estancia  Kark,  one  of  the  first  in  this  part,  but  now,  of 
course,  abandoned.  The  same  sight  met  us  at  Tweedie. 
Lago  Toro  lay  open  to  our  eyes,  a  typical  Alpine  lake, 
surrounded  by  high  mountains.  It  disappeared  behind 
Cerro  Toro,  but  another  lake  spread  out  instead,  and 
we  followed  it  for  a  couple  of  miles.  This  was  Lago 
Sarmiento,  remarkable  as  the  largest  Andine  basin 
without  an  outlet.    Considerable  deposits  of  calcareous 

278 


OUR  JOURNEY  TO  PUNTA  ARENAS   279 

tiif as  are  found  on  the  shores.  We  halted  at  a  house, 
but  as  nobody  was  at  home  we  only  let  the  horses  take  a 
mouthful  of  grass  and  continued  our  march.  The  road 
had  come  to  an  end,  and  was  succeeded  by  a  narrow 
path,  winding  over  the  hilly,  forest-clad  country.  At 
once  the  view  opened  out ;  there  was  a  lagoon  embedded 
in  green  woods,  and  we  saw  a  small  hut — our  destination. 
I  have  hardly  ever  seen  so  many  foxes  as  on  this  day, 
and  never  any  so  impudent.  They  sat  down  calmly 
on  the  roadside  and  stared  at  us,  or  ran  about  among 
the  flocks  of  sheep.  All  were  of  the  small  kind  (Canis 
Azarce). 

There  was  nobody  at  home  here  either.  Some  dogs 
ran  round,  and  one  had  been  shut  in  in  the  room,  where 
we  could  not  get.  We  had  no  provisions  and  looked  all 
round  in  the  kitchen  to  find  something  eatable.  A 
piece  of  very  dry  bread  and  some  coffee  was  all  we  found, 
and  outside  in  a  tree  was  the  flesh  of  an  old  mare. 
Pagels  did  not  conceal  his  disdain,  but  I  told  him  to  fry 
some  horse-steak,  and  after  he  had  seen  me  start  with  a 
good  appetite  he  was  not  slow  to  follow  my  example. 
In  Patagonia  horse-flesh  has  a  much  worse  reputation 
than  with  us. 

All  the  day  we  had  seen  the  Payne  Mountain.  I 
had  heard  much  of  it,  and  Quensel  had  described  the 
impressions  he  got  in  very  enthusiastic  terms.  And 
though  I  thought  myself  to  be  very  hlase,  when  I  beheld 
Payne  for  the  first  time  free  from  clouds  I  stopped, 
looked,  and  never  got  tired  of  looking.  And  at  the  same  l/ 
moment  I  knew  that  from  Nahuelhuapi  to  Cape  Horn, 
from  the  Pacific  to  the  pampas,  there  is  but  one  Payne. 


280  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

It  looks  like  one  of  those  geographical  diagrams  where, 
in  order  to  save  space,  the  height-scale  has  been  over- 
done in  proportion  to  the  scale  of  miles.  A  beautiful 
array  of  peaks,  one  higher  and  more  abrupt  than  the 
other,  where  the  interesting  geological  structure  may  be 
understood  by  anybody,  the  main  part  being  a  light 
grey  granite,  the  peaks  black  slates,  and  the  limit 
between  the  different  rocks  very  sharp.  The  king  is  v 
Payne  Oeste  (West  Payne),  whose  summit  of  10,650  feet 
is  covered  with  ice,  and  perhaps  the  most  magnificent 
part  is  Tres  Torres  (Three  Towers),  three  enormous 
pillars  rising  2600  feet  above  the  surrounding  glaciers. 
The  secret  of  Payne's  beauty  is  partly  all  this,  but 
mainly  that  it  rises  abrupt  and  isolated  from  the  low 
pampas  without  any  marked  junctions  with  the  rest 
of  the  range.  One  is  not  gradually  prepared  for  what 
is  to  come,  but  suddenly  has  these  10,000  feet  of  rock 
close  at  hand,  with  no  hills  or  lower  mountains  to  be 
climbed  first. 

The  next  morning  we  continued,  following  a  narrow 
horse-track  cut  by  Mr.  Ferrier.  The  ground  is  so  broken 
that  the  path  in  more  than  one  place  makes  riding  too 
hard  work  for  the  horses.  We  had  an  adventure  with  our 
packhorse,  who  took  the  opportunity  of  running  away 
when  we  were  busy  watering  our  horses.  After  a  wild 
chase  he  was  captured.  At  Rio  Payne,  a  large  river 
draining  this  district,  we  found  a  boat ;  the  horses  swam, 
and  after  another  mile's  ride  we  reached  Estancia 
Payne.  At  the  auction  of  land  it  was  purchased  by  a 
young  Englishman,  the  first  to  settle  there,  Mr.  Walter 
Ferrier,  who  now  welcomed  us. 


OUR  JOURNEY  TO  PUNTA  ARENAS   281 

Here  I  will  insert  a  brief  description  of  some  excursions 
undertaken  by  Quensel  during  the  summer  of  1907. 
On  November  16  he  left  Ultima  Esperanza  with  Pagels, 
and  spent  some  time  with  Mr.  Burbury  in  Cerro  Castillo. 
From  there  he  went  to  Ferrier's  place.  He  has  written 
about  his  travels  in  a  Swedish  journal,  and  I  now  give 
a  siunmary  of  his  description.  -:: 

"  With  Estancia  Ferrier  as  headquarters  I  made  a 
series  of  excursions  into  the  mountains  and  to  the 
glaciers.    From   the   top   of   the   first  high  mountain 
I  climbed,  Cerro  Donoso,  I  had  a  fine  view  over  the 
mountain  range,  and  as  none  of  the  higher  summits 
had  been  climbed  before,  I  got  a  chance  of  completing 
our  knowledge  of  the  geography  of  these  parts.     To 
the  west  was  the  edge  of  the  inland  ice  ;  gently  inclining, 
it  extends  as  far  as  eye  can  reach,  at  first  interspersed 
with   nunatahks   rising   like  steep  black  islands  ;   fur- 
ther west  even  the  steepest  peaks  are  ice-clad.     Split 
up  into  numerous  glaciers,  the  ice  comes  round  into  all 
the  valleys.    In  the  vast  moraines  I  had  a  good  field 
for  work,   for  from  the  stones  brought  down  it  was 
possible  to  form  an  opinion  as  to  the  structure  of  the  J 
mountains  under  the  ice-cover.    An  ascent  in  these 
parts  is  a  different  thing  from  one  in  Scandinavia  or 
in  Switzerland.     The   obstacles  are  first  the   swamps 
round  the  foot,  then  an  almost  impenetrable  forest- 
belt.    Once  above  the  forest  it  is  generally  not  difficult 
to  reach  a  considerable  height.    The  scenery  from  one 
of  the  mountains  is  well  worth  the  trouble  of  the  climb. 
Eastwards  the  endless  pampas,  in  the  west  the  Andes 
in  all  their  splendour,  and  between  the  hundred  smaller 


282  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

and  larger  lakes — everything  the  result  of  the  great  V 
Ice  Age  ! 

"  From  Ferrier's  farm  I  also  went  to  Payne,  a  mountain 
differing  widely  from  the  rest  even  in  its  outlines  ; 
even  a  non-geologist  can  guess  that  special  forces  have 
been  at  work  in  its  creation.  The  lower  part  is  nearly 
white,  a  light  granitic  rock  crowned  by  a  cap  of  black 
slates.  In  fact  we  have  here  the  ideal  laccolite.  On 
eruption  the  glowing  magma  did  not  break  up  through 
the  crust,  but  only  pressed  up  the  slate  like  a  vault. 
The  way  to  Payne  was  for  the  most  part  difficult.  We 
started  with  three  horses  and  tents  and  provisions  for  a 
week,  but  after  the  first  day  had  to  leave  the  tent  and 
everything  not  absolutely  necessary  behind.  Our  route 
followed  the  south  edge  ;  the  forest  grew  worse,  step  by 
step  we  struggled  with  prickly  berberis  thickets.  After 
six  hours'  hard  work  we  had  advanced  a  distance  of 
hardly  two  miles,  and  the  horses,  not  used  to  this  kind 
of  work,  refused  to  continue.  Our  position  was  not  an 
enviable  one  ;  it  would  cost  us  at  least  four  hours  to 
get  back  to  a  place  where  there  was  any  grass  for  the 
horses,  and  hardly  more  than  a  mile  ahead  we  saw  open 
ground.  But  the  thickets  grew  worse  still ;  we  were 
shut  in  by  a  steep  mountain- wall  on  one  side  and  a  small  , 
lake  on  the  other.  This  last,  unknown  before  and  named  J 
by  us  Lago  Skottsberg,  now  became  our  refuge.  We 
resolved  to  take  to  the  water,  and  this  proved 
possible.  Once  brought  down,  the  horses  were  able 
to  wade  along  the  shore  most  of  the  way ;  only  twice 
were  we  forced  to  unsaddle  them  and  let  them 
swim.    The  small,  beautiful  lake  is  visited  by  terrible 


OUR  JOURNEY  TO  PUNTA  ARENAS      283 

tornadoes,  which  drive  its  waters  into  columns  300  feet 
high. 

"At  last  we  reached  a  camping-place  with  good  pas- 
ture, and  round  the  fire  we  soon  forgot  all  our  troubles. 
But  the  night  brought  others.  Hardly  had  we  crept 
into  our  sleeping-bags  and  gone  to  sleep  when  snow 
began  to  fall.  Only  after  some  hours  did  I  realize  that 
I  lay  shivering  with  cold  in  a  pool  of  water,  which  was 
trickhng  in  from  the  top.  The  rest  of  the  night  was  not 
very  comfortable.  When  we  rose  we  found  several 
inches  of  snow  on  the  ground.  In  spite  of  the  difficulties, 
our  survey  of  Payne  yielded  very  good  results,  uniting 
a  highly  interesting  scientific  work  with  a  visit  to  a 
splendid  mountain  district. 

"  Our  route  the  next  day  led  first  through  a  beautiful 
forest,  easy  to  march  in,  where  deer  now  and  then  looked 
at  us  curiously  from  behind  the  trees.  Once  we  suddenly 
came  across  a  whole  family,  peacefully  grazing  in  a  small 
depression.  They  did  not  show  any  sign  of  fright,  and 
we  sat  down  to  light  our  pipes,  waiting  to  see  how  they 
would  behave.  One  after  the  other  they  now  came 
to  look  at  us  ;  advanced  till  they  were  eight  or  ten 
steps  off,  went  round  us,  and  then  walked  off  with  an 
expression  of  sheer  amazement.  A  fine  buck  came  so 
close  that  the  smoke  from  my  pipe  reached  his  nostrils  ; 
he  shook  his  head  and  turned  aside,  evidently  not  appre- 
ciating the  tobacco.  To  kill  these  animals,  save  to 
appease  our  hunger,  would  not  have  been  possible  for 
me  ;  they  were  much  too  confiding.  But  our  way  led 
us  higher,  and  now,  suddenly,  the  aspect  of  nature 
changed.    We   had  reached  the  edge   of   the  forest ; 


284  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

below  lay  a  deep  canyon,  its  upper  part  filled  with  a  V^i| 
glacier.  We  descended  and  followed  the  ice  up  the 
valley,  and  now  stood  in  the  heart  of  Payne  so  to  speak. 
All  round  precipitous  walls  rose,  the  narrow  valley  by 
which  we  had  come  had  disappeared  behind  a  protruding 
piece  of  rock  ;  nowhere  was  an  exit  visible.  One  stands 
as  in  a  hollow  mountain;  the  interior  is  worn  away, 
the  outer  cover  is  partly  left.  T  his  peculiar  circumstance 
is  explained  by  the  geology  ;  the  interior  consists  of 
the  readily  crumbling  granite,  the  cover  of  the  more 
durable  and  resisting  slates.  All  the  day  a  never- 
ceasing  cannonade  saluted  us ;  masses  of  ice  tumbled 
down  the  precipices  all  round,  and  were  welded  together 
on  the  next  ledge  to  form  a  new  glacier,  slowly  advancing 
till  a  new  barranca  caused  a  repetition  of  the  same 
phenomenon.  On  our  return  some  days  later  to  my  great 
astonishment  I  caught  sight  of  a  snow-white  deer, 
which  rapidly  disappeared  into  the  forest.  The  follow- 
ing days  I  crossed  the  place  in  all  directions  without 
finding  any  trace  of  it.  Without  doubt  it  was  an  albino  I 
variety  of  the  common  huemul,  but  as  I  had  never 
heard  of  anything  like  it  I  very  much  wanted  to  get 
hold  of  the  remarkable  beast. 

"  After  I  had  finished  my  work  round  Payne  I  moved 
my  camp  northward.  Our  way  led  west  and  north  / 
of  the  charming  Lago  Sarmiento,  a  lake  eight  and  a  half  / 
miles  long,  lacking  superficial  outlet  of  any  sort ;  only 
some  insignificant  streams  empty  into  it.  The  water, 
clear  as  crystal,  deep  blue  and  brackish,  the  constant 
temperature,  great  depth,  and  the  large  deposits  of 
calcareous  tufas  indicate   that  forces  other  than  the 


OUR  JOURNEY  TO  PUNTA  ARENAS      285 

ordinary  ones  of  nature  played  a  part  when  it  was  formed. 
Together  with  some  alkaline  and  carbonated  wells  in 
the  vicinity,  it  exhibits  the  last  remnants  of  a  post- 
volcanic  action  that  followed  upon  the  outburst  of 
the  immense  eruptive  masses  in  the  neighbourhood. 

''On  Christmas  Eve  I  came  to  a  shepherd's  house, 
and  stayed  there  to  give  my  horses  a  rest." 

From  there  Quensel  crossed  the  Baguales  range,  using 
a  pass  situated  west  of  the  one  by  which  we  came  down, 
went  to  Cattle's  place,  and  made  the  boat  journey  on 
Lago  Argentino  already  described. 

When  I  arrived  at  Ferrier's  estancia  Quensel  was 
ready  to  leave  ;  he  intended  to  go  straight  to  Ultima 
Esperanza  to  complete  some  observations  of  the  previous 
summer.  Ferrier  was  just  expecting  visitors,  a  large 
party  from  Otway  station,  and  followed  Quensel 
expecting  to  meet  them  on  the  way.  Thus  I  was  left 
quite  alone  in  the  house.  I  was  suffering  from  a  bout 
of  influenza  and  went  to  bed  early.  But  my  rest  was 
soon  disturbed,  for  hardly  had  I  put  out  the  light  when 
somebody  knocked  at  the  door  :  the  whole  picnic  party 
was  there,  ladies,  gentlemen,  and  children,  greatly 
astonished  at  not  finding  Mr.  Ferrier  at  home !  He 
had  evidently  passed  them  in  the  brushwood,  and  I 
had  to  take  charge  of  them.  There  was  no  cook,  as 
Ferrier  prepared  his  food  himself,  so  as  soon  as  I  could 
I  got  some  clothes  on,  went  out  in  the  kitchen,  and 
arranged  a  quick  supper  for  eight  persons.  All  the 
blankets  and  pillows  of  the  house  were  collected, 
and   gradually    all    settled    down.      The    next    day, 


286  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

however,  after  breakfast,  Terrier  returned  and  I  was 
relieved. 

With  some  provisions  in  our  maletas  Pagels  and  I 
started  on  the  13  th  in  order  to  penetrate  as  far  west 
as  we  could.  Ferrier  had  lent  us  fresh  horses,  and  after 
a  fine  gallop  across  his  estates  we  came  down  to  Eio  de 
Grey  (Rio  Blanco),  the  outlet  of  Lago  de  Grey,  incor- 
rectly called  Lago  Hauthal  on  the  Argentine  maps. 
With  the  assistance  of  a  Swede,  Mr.  Hiilphers,  in  Pata- 
gonia known  as  "  Klondyke-Hans,"  Ferrier  had  made 
a  hang-bridge  across  the  deep  and  rapid  ^river.  We 
carried  our  things  across,  swam  the  horses,  and  got  into 
the  saddle  again,  following  the  river  till  we  came  within 
sight  of  the  lake.  Between  the  trees  we  saw  some 
fine  icebergs,  coming  from  the  glacier  in  the  north- 
western end.  Close  to  the  south  end  empties  a  river, 
bearing  no  name  on  the  maps  ;  we  called  it  Eio  del 
Hielo,  or  the  Icy  River,  for  it  comes  from  the  inland  ice. 

It  was  a  laborious  ride.  At  first  the  mountains 
left  a  narrow  space,  overgrown  with  shrub-wood  along 
by  the  water.  We  pushed  through,  often  leading  the 
horses ;  but  the  barranca  rose  higher  and  higher,  heaps 
of  blocks  barred  the  way,  the  horses  injured  themselves 
and  bled,  which  I  did  not  at  all  like,  as  they  were  not 
mine.  The  forest  became  closer  and  closer,  the  thickets 
of  leiia  dura  {Maytenus  magellanica)  so  dense  that  we 
hardly  saw  the  horses,  which  we  dragged  along  by  the 
cahresta.  With  slabs  we  built  a  road  across  the  last 
pile  of  stones,  and  I  felt  relieved  when  we  had  the 
animals  safe  on  the  other  side.  Once  more  the  ground 
became  more  even ;  a  beautiful  roble  forest  with  a  carpet 


OUR  JOURNEY  TO  PUNTA  ARENAS      287 

of  grass  appeared  ;  but  after  we  had  passed  it  we  found 
the  way  barred  for  horses.  The  mountain  ran  out  into 
the  water,  which  here  forms  some  rapids,  and  we  made 
up  our  minds  to  camp  and  continue  on  foot  the  next 
day.  We  climbed  part  of  the  obstacle,  and  came  on  to 
broken  ground,  woody  ravines  alternating  with  small 
open  spaces  covered  with  grass-tussocks.  The  ever- 
green beech  became  more  and  more  frequent.  After  a 
march  of  several  hours  we  came  to  an  even,  gravelly 
plain,  over  which  Rio  del  Hielo  winds,  and  here  the 
scenery  was  most  imposing.  The  river  flows  from  three 
different  tongues  of  the  inland  ice.  Opposite  us  was 
the  nunatahk  called  Cerro  Zapato,  further  north  the 
perfectly  white  Cerro  Blanco,  and  in  a  north-easterly 
direction  the  Payne  Mountain  shows  quite  a  new  aspect. 
We  followed  one  of  the  rivers  up  to  the  edge  of  the  ice, 
for  with  our  equipment  we  could  not  get  further.  I 
think  it  would  be  possible  to  cut  across  here  to  the 
Pacific.  The  distance  as  the  crow  flies  to  Peel  Inlet 
cannot  much  exceed  eighteen  miles,  but  the  ice  is  full 
of  crevices. 

After  twelve  hours'  hard  walk  we  were  back  at  the 
starting-point,  and  spent  a  second  night  there.  I  had 
reached  my  goal  and  we  could  return.  Down  at  Rio 
de  Grey  we  had  a  passage  of  arms  with  the  horses, 
who  refused  to  swim  ;  Pagels'  horse  broke  the  cahresta 
and  ran  away  from  him,  but  was  captured  again.  I 
have  seldom  looked  so  shabby  as  when  we  came  back 
to  the  settlement.  My  old  faithful  rags  that  had  hung 
on  since  Bariloche  and  were  old  then  were  now  at  their 
last  gasp.     But  a  pair  of  Ferrier's  old  trousers  enabled 


288  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

me  to  leave  his  place  dressed  like  a  gentleman.  His 
visitors  had  gone,  he  was  left  by  himself,  and  I  stayed 
with  him  another  two  days ;  then  I  had  to  go  back 
to  Cerro  Castillo.  Here  I  found  letters  from  Halle, 
who  had  passed  by  there  some  days  earlier  on  his  way 
to  Ultima  Esperanza,  and  the  next  day  I  went  there 
with  the  rest  of  our  twpilla. 

Now  one  really  knew  one  was  in  the  civilized  part  of 
Patagonia — a  broad  cart-road,  fringed  with  telephone 
poles,  regarded  with  mistrust  by  our  horses ;  here  and 
there  neat  houses.  We  met  many  waggons  and  riders, 
but  fortunately  the  locomotive  of  the  company  with  its 
two  big  trailers  stood  still  as  we  passed.  Even  then 
the  mare  nearly  had  a  fit  when  she  saw  the  monster. 
It  was  Saturday,  and  more  than  one  traveller  had 
abeady  started  to  celebrate  the  holiday.  We  had  just 
sat  down  by  the  roadside  to  rest  when  a  swarthy 
figure  came  along,  stopped  and  handed  us  a  bottle, 
and  did  not  leave  us  until  we.  had  taken  two  respect- 
able pulls.  After  a  while  another  fellow  with  another 
bottle  appeared.  We  left  the  main  track,  the  forest 
became  finer  and  more  lofty,  and  in  the  afternoon  we 
arrived  in  Puerto  Consuelo.  Here  Hermann  Eberhard 
was  waiting  for  us  with  his  motor-boat,  and  we  speedily 
ran  up  the  narrow  inlet  to  his  villa.  It  is  the  cosiest 
place  in  Patagonia.  Generally  people  do  not  take  much 
trouble  with  their  dwellings,  and  the  stranger  is  aston- 
ished when  he  gets  into  Eberhard's  house  and  finds 
himself  surrounded  by  all  sorts  of  European  comforts. 

The- name  Eberhard  is  famous  in  Patagonia.  It 
was  to  a  virgin  land  that  Eberhard  senior,  late  captain 


J 


OUR  JOURNEY  TO  PUNTA  ARENAS   289 

of  the  port  in  Port  Stanley,  came  in  1893  to  try  his 
fortune.  We  made  his  acquaintance  in  Punta  Arenas 
in  February  1908.  Deeply  interested  in  natural  science 
he  opened  his  home  to  all  the  explorers  who  came  to 
these  parts  ;  Quensel  also  had  been  his  guest.  When 
we  came  back  from  the  Channels  in  June  we  heard  of 
his  sudden  and  unexpected  death.  His  son  follows 
in  his  footsteps,  and  all  who  know  him  hope  that  the 
plot  to  deprive  him  of  his  camp  will  fail.  On  the  occasion 
of  the  great  auction  in  1905,  Captain  Eberhard  turned 
to  the  Government  claiming  that  an  exception  for  his 
piece  of  land  ought  to  be  made  as  he  had  explored  the 
country  and  was  the  first  colonist  there.  The  Govern- 
ment proposed  to  the  congress  that  he  should  get 
permission  to  buy  his  ground  privately.  In  January 
1906  this  proposal  passed  the  Senate,  but  the  House  of 
Deputies  had  not  taken  up  the  question  yet.  Therefore 
young  Eberhard  felt  the  ground  anything  but  safe 
under  him.  Quensel  and  he  had  just  returned  from  the 
boat  journey  ;  they  had  run  into  Worsley  Sound  and 
discovered  two  unknown  inlets  called  Resi  and  Gesa  ; 
they  also  brought  back  a  sketch-map. 

What  especially  has  drawn  scientists  to  Ultima 
Esperanza  is  the  famous  "  Mylodon  "  cave,  situated 
in  a  barranca  some  few  miles  from  Puerto  Consuelo. 
Here,  fifteen  years  ago.  Captain  Eberhard  found  a 
most  remarkable  skin  with  small  round  bones  embedded 
in  the  hide  and  covered  by  long  coarse  yellowish  brown 
hair.  It  hung  on  his  farm  more  than  a  year,  nobody 
suspecting  its  immense  scientific  value — travellers  cut  off 
a  piece  as  a  souvenir,  and  0.  Nordenskjold  also  brought 

X 


290  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

a  piece  to  Sweden.  Great  was  the  astonislunent  when 
it  was  found  that  the  skin  had  belonged  to  a  giant 
sloth,  and  all  sorts  of  rumours  that  this  animal  was  still 
living  in  Patagonia  were  set  going.  At  the  same  time 
the  attention  of  the  scientific  world  was  drawn  to  the 
find,  and  in  1899  Mr.  E.  Nordenskiold  went  there  to  make 
excavations.  A  fine  collection  of  bones  and  other  remains 
of  the  big  sloth,  a  GlossotJierium,  and  many  other 
animals,  was  brought  together  ;  in  the  upper  strata 
he  even  found  traces  that  a  pre-historic  human  race 
had  lived  in  the  grotto.  Close  upon  this  Professor 
Hauthal  of  La  Plata  made  an  exploration  of  the  great 
cavern,  and  in  spite  of  the  Glossotherium  occurring 
only  in  the  lowest  stratum,  he  and  his  collaborators 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  sloth  had  probably 
been  contemporaneous  with  man,  and  even  domesticated  , 
by  him,  for  in  one  corner  of  the  cavern  a  big  deposit^ 
of  dung,  suggesting  a  stable,  was  found.  However, 
none  of  the  persons  who  studied  the  place  or  the 
deposits  believed  that  the  animal  was  still  living 
in  Patagonia,  which  did  not  prevent  a  big  English 
newspaper  from  sending  an  expedition  under  a 
young  man,  Mr.  H.  Pritchard,  in  order  to  capture  a 
living  specunen  for  the  Zoo.  This  was  in  1900. 
I  do  not  expect  the  results  of  the  expedition  were  com- 
mensurable with  the  expenses.  There  is  much  work 
left  in  the  cavern.  The  floor  is  partly  covered  with  a 
barrier  of  huge  blocks  which  have  fallen  down  from  the 
roof  since  the  deposits  were  formed  ;  by  removing  them 
the  layers  must  be  found  quite  undisturbed.  It  is 
impossible  to  get  an  idea  of  the  stratification  in  the 


OUR  JOURNEY  TO  PUNTA  ARENAS   291 

remainder,  for  all  sorts  of  people  have  been  there  digging 
without  any  method  collecting  curiosities  which  are 
sold  in  Punta  Arenas.  Our  scheme  did  not  embrace 
a  new  survey  of  the  place,  which  is  likely  to  cost  much 
money  and  require  considerable  time. 

Naturally  I  would  not  leave  Patagonia  without  having 
seen  the  famous  cavern,  and  consequently  we  rode  there. 
It  cannot  fail  to  produce  a  deep  impression :  the  ref ug 
of  extinct  animals  and  human  beings.  It  is  about 
eighty  feet  high  and  extends  nearly  500  yards  into 
the  mountain.  Large  stalactites  hang  down  from  the 
roof.  The  very  first  glance  shows  how  everything 
has  been  turned  upside  down  by  the  reckless  diggers. 
The  so-called  stable  is  still  visible,  and  it  is  easy  to  get 
fine  specimens  of  dung.  There  was  also  plenty  of  hair 
belonging  to  the  curious  beast,  the  Glossotherium.*^^ 
After  we  had  seen  enough  of  the  great  cavern  we  walked 
along  the  barranca  on  the  look-out  for  new  discoveries. 
A  shepherd  has  told  Mr.  Eberhard,  that  he  had  found  a 
second  cavern  but  refused  to  give  any  details,  waiting 
to  dig  out  curiosities  and  sell  them  without  partners. 
The  forest  is  dense  and  we  had  to  seek  a  while  before 
we  found  the  entrance  hidden  under  the  trees.  This 
cavern  also  is  very  beautiful  though  only  half  the  size 
of  the  original  one.  It  was  evident  that  the  shepherd 
had  done  some  digging  there,  but  probably  without 
result  for  the  soil  does  not  seem  to  contain  anything 
at  all.  However  it  is  necessary  to  make  proper  investi- 
gations. 

Before  returning  we  visited  another  cave,  a  narrow 
crevice,  where  we  had  to  crawl  in  on  our  stomachs. 


292  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

There  was  not  much  air,  just  sufficient  for  our  piece  of 
candle.  Eberhard  had  found  a  funny  locust  in  there 
living  in  the  darkness.  Neither  eyes  nor  bright  colours 
are  of  use  to  it ;  it  is  half  blind  and  nearly  colourless. 
As  soon  as  we  had  got  a  number  we  crawled  out  again, 
not  without  trouble,  for  the  stalactites  got  hold  of 
our  clothes  like  giant  claws.  The  nature  round  Ultima 
Esperanza  has  a  certain  stamp  of  Northern  Europe 
and  I  do  not  at  all  wonder  that  Europeans  thrive  better 
there  than  in  other  places.  I  myself  got  very  fond 
of  the  place  and  deeply  regretted  that  lack  of  time 
did  not  permit  us  a  longer  stay  than  a  day  and  a  half. 

On  February  22  we  said  farewell,  and  after  some 
hours'  ride  passed  the  Argentine  frontier,  going  on  to 
Meyer's  estancia  on  Eio  Turbio,  where  we  had  been 
invited  to  spend  the  night.  Large  heaps  of  empty 
champagne-bottles  adorn  the  place,  showing  that  sheep- 
farming  in  Patagonia  is  a  profitable  industry.  We 
found  Halle  here.  He  was  pleased  with  his  time  spent 
and  nothing  prevented  us  from  riding  directly  to  Punta 
Arenas,  only  three  days'  journey.  The  road  bends 
over  a  monotonous  barren  plain,  over  which  a  single 
basaltic  mountain,  Morro  Chico,  rises.  It  was  dark 
when  we  reached  the  small  hotel ;  we  did  not  get  much 
sleep,  for  the  customers  made  a  terrible  noise  all  night. 
At  eight  o'clock  we  were  in  the  saddle  again.  All  along 
the  track  lay  dead  horses  ;  here  and  there  a  fox  was  cele- 
brating a  feast,  but  our  dogs  soon  laid  him  alongside 
the  carrion.  We  halted  at  Laguna  Blanca,  another 
lake  without  an  outlet,  in  order  to  get  some  food,  but 
were  soon  off  again  for  we  had  a  long  march  before  us. 


Tiiic  "  Nkomyi.odon  "  Cave,  Last  Hopk  Im.kt. 


OUR  JOURNEY  TO  PUNTA  ARENAS      293 

We  had  resolved  to  make  a  small  detour  from  the 
straight  track  and  visit  Otway  Station,  where  we  had 
been  invited  by  the  Saunders  family  whom  I  met  at 
Ferrier's  farm,  as  the  reader  no  doubt  remembers. 
We  thought  of  leaving  our  horses  there  and  even  hoped 
that  Mr.  Saunders,  a  representative  of  a  very  substantial 
company,  would  buy  them. 

Fortunately  it  was  not  too  dark  for  us  to  find  the  side- 
path  to  the  farm,  which  we  expected  soon  to  strike. 
The  horses  were  tired,  and  to  our  surprise  hour  after 
hour  went  by  without  any  trace  of  human  dwellings. 
We  alighted  and  led  the  animals,  trying  to  follow  an 
indistinct  cart-track.  We  got  on  all  right  for  a  while, 
but  lost  it  in  the  drifting  sand  on  the  shore  of  Otway 
Water,  which  we  now  saw  again  or  at  least  heard, 
for  it  was  pitch  dark.  At  random  we  groped  our  way 
when  suddenly  we  heard  a  dog  bark.  Good  !  where 
there  is  a  dog  there  are  also  people.  Led  by  the  sound 
we  found  the  place — a  dog  tied  to  a  pole  ;  we  shouted 
but  got  no  answer.  Later  we  found  out  that  some  men 
working  at  a  fence  had  a  tent  there.  Probably  they 
were  frightened  and  dared  not  answer  ;  it  is  unpossible 
that  they  did  not  hear  us. 

There  we  were.  It  was  so  dark  that  we  could 
not  see  five  yards :  we  spread  over  the  ground 
signalling  to  each  other  with  matches  and  finally 
found  another  cart-track.  We  mounted  and  made 
another  move  but  suddenly  the  horses  stopped  ;  we 
alighted  looking  for  the  reason — a  fence  cut  straight 
across  the  road.  That  was  a  funny  road  ;  there  was  no 
gate  and  we  followed  the  fence  in  the  direction  we 


294  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

considered  to  be  the  best.  It  turned  at  a  rigbt  angle 
and  there  we  struck  a  proper  road  running  south.  We 
had  ahnost  given  up  all  hope  of  finding  Otway  Station, 
believing  that  we  had  passed  it  at  some  distance,  and 
we  did  not  know  where  the  road  led  to.  Then  I  thought 
I  saw  a  house  ;  my  imagination  provided  it  with  doors 
and  windows,  I  saw  a  light — and  was  greatly  dis- 
appointed when  it  was  reduced  to  a  big  piece  of  rock. 
I  lit  a  match  and  looked  at  my  watch  ;  it  was  the 
witching  hour  of  midnight. 

Our  surprise  and  joy  were  great  when  half  an  hour 
later  a  real  light  was  seen ;  we  set  our  horses  going 
and  reached  Otway  Station.  We  had  gone  exactly  the 
route  we  ought,  but  were  mistaken  in  the  distance. 
We  were  almost  ashamed  to  knock  at  the  door  at  this 
late  hour,  but  needs  must  and  in  Patagonia  the  stranger 
is  excused  ;  he  may  come  at  the  strangest  hours  of  the 
day — or  night.  One  of  the  young  ladies  came  down 
and  made  a  cup  of  cocoa,  and  as  soon  as  we  could  we 
shpped  into  bed,  for  I  will  not  deny  that  we  were  pretty 
tired. 

February  21  was  a  day  of  great  satisfaction  :  Mr. 
Saunders  did  not  really  want  any  horses,  but  neverthe- 
less bought  them  and  paid  well.  A  great  anxiety  was 
thus  removed,  especially  we  were  pleased  to  know 
our  horses  were  in  good  hands.  They  had  carried  us 
across  swamps  and  streams,  over  mountain-passes, 
where  stony  ground,  snowfields  and  floating  soil  suc- 
ceeded each  other ;  up  barrancas,  where  the  least 
false  step  would  have  proved  fatal,  and  we  had  grown 
to  like  them  and  even  parted  with  them  with  regret. 


OUK  JOUKNEY  TO  PUNT  A  ARENAS  295 

Quite  sad  I  saddled  Solo  for  the  last  time.  Our  riding 
horses  turned  with  a  neigh  to  their  comrades ;  they 
must  carry  us  the  last  few  miles  to  Punta  Arenas 
from  where  they  were  sent  back  to  join  the  tropilla. 
After  a  nice  canter  we  were  down  on  Cabeza  del  Marf-^ 
a  bay  that  once  communicated  with  Otway  Water. 
From  the  head  of  the  bay  the  road  cuts  down  to  the 
Magellan  Straits  following  along  the  water  to  the 
town.  It  became  more  and  more  lively  on  the  road  ; 
the  nmnber  of  public  houses  increased  rapidly,  and  in 
the  twilight  we  rode  into  Punta  Arenas,  where  our 
country  horses  had  much  to  think  about.  We  went 
straight  to  the  Swedish  Consulate  and  stopped  below 
its  windows.  It  was  some  tune  before  people  recognized 
the  bearded  highwaymen.  The  last  act  was  played  out ; 
for  the  last  time  we  unsaddled.  "  Where  do  you  come, 
from  ?  "  people  asked  us.  And  as  we  answered  "  from 
Lago  Nahuelhuapi "  they  thought  we  were  joking 
with  them.     But  it  was  true. 

The  distance  from  Bariloche  to  Punta  Arenas  is 
1358  miles,  covered  in  fifty-six  march-days,  which  gives 
a  daily  average  of  24-25  miles.  Counting  excursions 
the  total  distance  amounts  to  1640  miles. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE  BEAGLE  CHANNEL 

In  Punta  Arenas  everything  looked  the  same.  Times 
were  still  bad  though  somewhat  better  than  in  the  pre- 
ceding winter  when  paper  money  was  worth  nothing — 
the  peso  was  then  down  to  sevenpence  instead  of  eigh- 
teen ;  now  it  varied  between  nine  and  ten.  The  great  / 
fluctuation  in  the  value  of  Chilean  money  is  of  course 
a  great  drawback  to  commercial  development;  one 
never  knows  from  day  to  day  how  much  one  has,  and 
the  first  look  in  the  morning  paper  is  at  "  el  cambio," 
printed  on  the  first  page  in  large  type.  Not  a  few 
persons  speculate  in  money,  and  more  than  one  fortune 
has  been  made  only  by  buying  and  selling  notes.  I 
believe  the  market  has  become  more  steady  now. 

Long  in  advance  we  had  made  preparations  for  our 
last  expedition,  the  visit  to  the  Beagle  Channel.  "  El 
apostadero  naval,"  the  naval  station,  had  a  new  chief, 
for  Mr.  Rojas  had  been  pensioned  and  was  succeeded 
by  Rear- Admiral  F.  Valenzuela.  He  had  got  orders 
from  Valparaiso  and  received  us  with  great  kindness, 
offering  us  the  small  but  convenient  steamer  Porvenir 
for  the  trip.  The  Government  had  purchased  it  during 
the  winter,  when,  owing  to  the  bad  times,  more  than 
one  Punta  Arenas  ship  changed  owner.  The  officers 
started  at  once  to  equip  the  vessel. 

296 


Till-:    liKAi.l.l.    L'llA.NMiL    l.OUKl.Nd    WlisT. 


?^"*^ 


USHIAIA    AMI    MaKIIAI,    MorNTAI.N;: 


Gl.ALlLR    i.N     N.W.     .Vr.M    lU-     iJhAul.b.    ChA.\.N1-1, 


THE  BEAGLE  CHANNEL  297 

The  town  was  in  a  state  of  rejoicing.  It  was  a  carnival 
time  and  festive  processions  passed  through  the  windy 
streets,  but  I  think  it  was  a  hard  job  to  raise  carnival- 
spirits  on  the  shores  of  Magellan  Straits.  Dancing 
saloons  had  been  rigged  up  for  the  occasion,  and  were 
filled  all  night  long.  We  had  no  time,  however,  for 
things  of  that  sort.  We  had  to  go  through  all  the 
luggage  sent  from  Puerto  Montt  in  October;  another 
equipment  had  to  be  got  together  and  I  was  running 
all  day  long  between  the  ports,  the  telegraph- office  and 
the  Argentine  consulate  to  arrange  an  important  piece 
of  business,  the  transport  of  ourselves  and  our  luggage 
from  Punta  Arenas  to  Buenos  Aii'es.  There  is  regular 
communication  between  the  latter  place  and  Ushuaia. 
One  of  the  steamers,  however,  had  just  run  ashore  on 
the  Atlantic  coast,  the  other,  Primero  de  Mayo, 
had  just  passed  on  her  way  south,  and  the  Argentine 
Consul,  IVIr.  Margueirat,  told  us  that  her  commander 
had  orders  to  take  us  on  board  if  this  would  suit  us. 
But  she  ought  to  be  back  in  Punta  Ai-enas  long  before 
we  had  finished  our  exploration  in  the  Beagle  Channel 
and  w^e  had  to  leave  without  knowing  anything  for 
certain.  I  wired  to  Buenos  Aires  asking  if  there  would 
be  any  other  possible  ship  besides  the  Primero  de 
Mayo,  but  could  not  wait  for  the  answer. 

The  summer  had  been  uncommonly  dry,  it  was  difficult 
to  get  water,  and  not  until  March  3  did  the  Porvenir  get 
her  supply.  In  the  evening  we  went  on  board,  and 
before  sunrise  were  under  way  towards  the  Magdalena 
Channel.  The  commander  was  Mr.  P.  Acevedo,  captain 
in  the  navy,  an  able  officer  and  good  companion.     In  a 


298  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA  , 

short  time  we  got  into  the  familiar  old  fog  again.     It  is    / 
said  in  the  tale  of  creation,  that  the  water  in  the  air   / 
was  separated  from  the  water  on  the  earth  but  in  the  ^ 
west  of  Tierra    del    Fuego  one  is  inclined  to  believe 
that  the  separation  never  was  completed,  so  difficult  is 
it  to  see  where  the  sea  ends  and  the  sky  begins.     On  / 
clear  days  the  magnificent  Mt.  Sarmiento,  the  highest/ 
peak  in  Tierra  del  Fuego,  shines  Hke  a  gigantic  beacon 
visible  far  north  of  Punta  Arenas  on  EHsabeth  Island 
at  a  distance  of  ninety- six  nautical  miles.     We  anchored 
the  first  night  in  Puerto  Barrow,  and  found  time  to  go 
on  shore;    I  had  never  visited  this  part  of  Tierra  del 
Fuego    before.     At   dawn   we    weighed    anchor.     The 
weather  was  not  nice,  but  not  bad,  and  in  any  case  good 
enough  to  clear  the  sometimes  critical  passage  round 
the  Brecknock  peninsula.     For   a   while   one   gets   a 
broadside  from  the  Pacific,  which  for  a  small  steamer 
may  be  dangerous.     We  had  vivid  recollections  of  the 
Swedish   expedition   in    1896,    whose   journey   in   the 
Condor  was  nearly  disastrous  owing  as  far  as  I  can  gather 
to  the  carelessness  or  ignorance  of  the  officers.     The 
open  passage  with  its  black,  storm-beaten  rocks  and 
reefs   produces   a   terrifying  and  desolate  impression. 
The  whole  business  only  lasted  a    couple    of    hom's 
and  then  we  came  into   smooth    water    again.     We 
had  just  entered  the    Brecknock    Somid,    when    we 
met   the  Primero    de   Mayo   on   her    way  to    Punta 
Arenas — far  too   early  for    us;   we   saluted   her  with 
the  flag,  continued    through   Whaleboat    Sound    and 
anchored  in  Puerto  Fortmia  on  the  north    coast  of 
Londonderry  Island. 


THE  BEAGLE  CHANNEL  299 

We  had  heard  much  of  the  beauty  of  the  Western/^ 
Beagle  Channel;  but  it  almost  surpassed  our  expecta- 
tions. It  is  mainly  the  same  sort  of  country  as  we  had 
seen  before  with  steep  shores  covered  with  evergreen 
forests  or  bogs  and  with  snow- clad  crests  and  summits. 
But  do\\^i  here  a  new  and  important  feature  is  added, 
the  glaciers.  In  the  Patagonian  Channels  it  is  only 
in  the  inlets  penetrating  into  the  main  range  of  the 
Andes  that  the  glaciers  come  down  into  the  sea.  But 
in  the  west  part  of  the  Beagle  Channel  nearly  every  valley 
is  occupied  by  a  blue  stream  of  ice  coming  down  through 
the  forest  and  causing  that  contrast  between  the 
eternal  ice  and  eternal  green  extolled  by  Darwin  and 
all  travellers  after  him.  Not  only  are  the  larger  valleys 
that  run  down  into  the  sea  thus  ice-filled  but  any  small 
depression  on  a  mountain- side  has  become  a  refuge 
for  a  wee  tongue  of  ice. 

As  we  wanted  to  see  a  little  more  of  the  glaciers  we 
went  into  a  bay  called  Glacier  Sound.     Probably  no^ 
ship  was  ever  in    here,   for  the  depth  was  unknown. 
We  sounded,  but  the  water  suddenly  shallowed  so  that 
we  ran  aground  on  the  loose  clay.      Of  course  we  got 
off  again.     Unfortunately  the  way  to  the   glacier  was 
barred  by  closely  packed  drift-ice,  so  we  soon  left  the 
place  and  went  to  spend  the  night  in  Eomanche]  Bay. 
We  had  now  reached  the  most  magnificent  part  of  the      / 
Beagle   Channel,    the   Northwest   Arm,    where    glacier  J 
follows  upon  glacier.      Opposite  Eomanche  Bay  there 
is  one  especially  worthy  of  attention.     Blue  as  only 
ice  can  be,  it  floats  out  over  the  mountain  ledge,  sending 
a  vertical  tongue  down  into  the  water;   from  the  edge 


300  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

higher  up  the  river  rushes  out  of  its  vault,  at  once 
forming  a  waterfall  playing  with  the  miniature  ice- 
floes. The  condition  at  the  Darwin  glacier  further  east 
were  very  favourable,  making  it  easy  to  study  the 
moraines  as  well  as  the  vegetation  round  the  ice  border. 
Nature  itself  had  come  to  our  help.  The  ice  does  not 
extend  down  to  the  water,  but  ends  in  the  forest.  Some 
years  ago  the  river  changed  its  course  owing  to  some 
accidental  damming- up ;  the  obstacle  disappearing, 
it  returned  to  its  old  bed  again  and  left  the  new  one  free 
of  access.  It  formed  quite  a  natural  road  across  the 
forest  and  we  could  walk  up  to  the  ice  very  comfortably. 
The  distance  from  the  ice- border  to  the  first  stunted 
trees  is  about  ten  feet. 

After  a  short  visit  to  Yendagaia,  we  anchored  in 
Lapataia,  a  place  well  known  to  me,  where  I  had  spent 
some  time  with  Dr.  K.  Andersson  in  1902.  The  saw-mill 
was  still  there,  but  the  old  manager  had  gone  long  ago. 
It  was  Sunday  and  work  was  stopped,  but  we  met  the 
new  boss  and  asked  him  to  lend  us  a  boat,  for  Quensel 
and  I  intended  to  pull  across  Lago  Acigami  or  Eoca,  as 
the  lake  north  of  Lapataia  is  called.  We  saw  at 
once  that  he  was  a  stranger  in  the  country,  and  we  chose 
English  to  speak  with  him;  however  Quensel  and  I 
exchanged  some  remarks  in  Swedish  and  at  once  he 
joined  in  telling  us  that  he  also  was  a  Swede,  by  name 
Lundberg.  Another  Scandinavian,  a  Norwegian,  also 
worked  in  the  small  saw- mill. 

The  next  morning  we  pulled  up  a  rapid  stream, 
the  outlet  of  Lago  Acigami.  Without  warning  one  is 
out  on  the  bosom  of  the  lake,  hitherto  hidden  behind 


THE  BEAGLE  CHANNEL  301 

dense  foliage.  The  eastern  shore  slopes  gradually 
and  is  covered  with  dense  forests  down  to  the  water, 
into  which  the  trees  dip  their  branches.  The  western 
shore  is  very  different,  rising  abruptly  like  an  immense 
wall  of  stone  with  snow- patches  in  all  crevices  to  a 
very  considerable  height;  the  highest  peaks,  nearly 
4000  feet,  cast  their  dark  shadow  over  the  whole  lake. 
It  was  rather  strange  after  an  absence  of  six  and  a  half 
years  to  plough  the  waters  of  Lago  Acigami  once  more 
— once  more  to  catch  sight  of  the  pretty  points  where 
we  rested  upon  the  oars  to  breathe.  Probably  I  shall 
not  come  back  for  the  third  time.  ... 

The  boundary  between  Argentina  and  Chile  crosses  ^ 
this  lake,  cuts  straight  down  to  the  Beagle  Channel, 
following  it  to  the  Atlantic.     In  the  morning  we  started  in 
Argentina  and  landed  in  Chile  at  the  other  end  of  the 
lake.     Here  we  had  a  hasty  meal,  standing,  or  even 
running  about  to  get  clear  of  the  innumerable  mosquitoes. 
The  Acigami- depression  is  continued  by  a  broad  valley 
of  exactly  the  same  nature  as  the  Betbeder  Valley, 
traversed  by  a  river.     The  bottom  is  impassable  on 
account  of  the  swamps  and  we  worked  our  way  through 
the  forest  alongside  it  till  we  reached  a  point  from  where 
we  could  overlook  the  neighbourhood.     We  made  out     / 
that  we  were  in  the  Rojas  Valley,  whose  river  we  had  dis-  / 
covered  the  previous  year,  and  thus  had  reached  our 
goal.     The  same  night  we  were  back  on  board. 

To  judge  from  the  big  mussel- banks  Lapataia 
was  once  a  main  resort  for  the  Yahgan  tribe.  Halle 
made  some  excavations  and  found  some  bone- 
prickers. 


302  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

The   next   day   we   continued    eastward.     We   saw 
Ushuaia  at  some  distance,  but  left  it  behind  and  went 
into    the   passage    between   the   Navarin   and   Hoste 
Islands,    the   Murray   Narrows.     We   knew   that   the 
English  mission  station  formerly  installed  in  Tekenika 
Bay  had  been  moved  to  a  place  opposite  this,  and  found 
it  in  Douglas  Bay.     There  is  no   shelter  here   from 
the  prevailing  wind,  but  otherwise  Nature  is  prettier 
than  in  the  old  place.     A  heavy  sea  was  running,  but 
soon  a  small  yawl  came  from  the  station  pulled  by  two 
Indians  and  in  the  person  in  the  stern  I  recognized 
the  EngUsh  missionary,  Mr.  Williams,  whose  acquaint- 
ance I  had  made  in  Tekenika  in  1902.     He  was  greatly 
astonished  at  seeing  one  of  the  fellows  from  the  Antarctic 
once  more.     We  followed  him  ashore.     What  an  agree- 
able contrast  between  this  place  and  Dawson  Island. 
Nilere  the  last  remnants  of  the  Yahgan  tribe  are  collected, 
numbering   a   hundred   and   seventy.     Is    it   possible 
that   only   seventy-five   years   ago   their  fires   blazed 
all  along  the  Beagle  Channel  and  round  the  archipelago 
of  Cape  Horn  ?     They  have  been  extinguished  for  ever. 
But  before  all  the  Yahgans  gathered  on  the  stations 
the    French    Cape   Horn   expedition   spent   one   year 
in  Orange  Bay;    quite  a  colony  of  Indians  stayed  with 
them  and  were  studied  from  every  point  of  view.     I 
must  also  mention  the  valuable  observations  on  their 
habits  and  language  made  by  the  late  Thomas  Bridges 
of  Ushuaia,  through  which  we  possess  a  fairly  complete 
account  of  this  people.     In  Douglas  Bay  they  are  very 
well  treated  and  get  permission  to  make  long  excursions 
hunting  and  fishing.     Mr.  Williams  is  a  practical  man, 


THE  BEAGLE  CHANNEL  303 

whose  enthiisiasm  for  preaching  the  gospel  has  not 
led  him  astray,  and  the  Indians  seem  to  have  confidence 
in  him.  He  speaks  their  language  fluently — well,  this 
might  be  considered  a  matter  of  course,  though  the 
Salesian  padre  on  Dawson  Island  hardly  knew  a  word 
of  it.  "We  had  to  leave  Mr.  Williams'  pleasant  home 
helter-skelter — for  suddenly  a  south-west  gale  came 
on  and  it  was  all  we  could  do  to  get  back  on  board. 
We  had  to  weigh  anchor  at  once  and  seek  shelter 
under  Hoste  Island,  where  we  anchored  in  Allen  Gardiner 
Bay,  on  the  same  spot  where  the  lamented  Antarctic 
lay  in  1902.  There  were  hardly  any  traces  of  the 
mission  station,  for  all  the  houses  had  been  moved  to 
the  new  place. 

Here  Halle  had  an  important  task  to  fulfil.  Dr.  J. 
G.  Anderson  had  found  fossilized  wood  and  shells 
embedded  before  the  folding  of  the  Fuegian  Cordillera 
took  place ;  thus  an  investigation  of  the  fossils  would 
give  certain  indications  as  to  the  age  of  the  mountain 
chain.  The  collections  were  lost  in  the  Antarctic,  and^ 
we  had  come  there  to  get  new  ones.  Halle  was  left 
there  with  a  tent,  a  boat,  provisions  and  two  men. 
We  on  the  Porvenir  went  south.  We  were  interested 
to  visit  the  old  station  in  Orange  Bay ;  the  commemora- 
tive pyramid  with  its  marble  plates  was  left  intact 
and  a  few  steps  from  there  was  one  of  the  pillars  of  the 
magnetical  observatory.  At  night  two  boats  of  Indians 
came ;  they  asked  us  to  take  them  to  the  Wollaston 
Islands.  They  were  abundantly  supplied  with  pro- 
visions, flour,  sugar,  &c.,  and  had  also  brought  a  rifle. 
We  went  there  the  next  morning.     The  southernmost  of 


304  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

these  Islands  is  Hoorn  Island  with  the  famous  cape. 
The  forest  is  limited  to  small  groves  and  thickets  and 
the  vegetation  much  reminded  me  of  what  I  had  seen 
in  certain  places  on  the  West  Falklands.  We  only- 
landed  at  two  places  and  then  crossed  again  to  Pack- 
saddle  Bay,  as  Quensel  wanted  to  study  some  of  the 
localities  where  the  French  expedition  had  been.  When 
we  came  back  to  Tekenina  we  found  that  Halle  had  got 
comrades,  several  Yahgans,  who  had  made  a  hut  of 
sticks  and  bundles  of  grass.  They  were  on  their  way 
to  the  mission,  but  could  not  help  stopping,  curious  to 
see  what  the  white  men  were  doing.  One  of  the  sailors 
from  the  Porvenir  had  shown  a  rifle  to  them,  which  made 
them  come  to  Halle  assuring  him  of  their  exceptionally 
friendly  sentiments.  He  was  pleased  with  his  results, 
and  in  the  afternoon  of  March  13  we  went  to  Ushuaia. 
The  capital  of  Tierra  del  Fuego  has  a  very  pretty 
situation  on  the  channel  at  the  foot  of  the  Martial 
Mountains  and  everywhere  surrounded  by  roble  forests. 
The  harbour  is  formed  by  the  woodless  peninsula, 
where  the  houses  that  once  belonged  to  Mr.  Thomas 
Bridges'  mission  station  are  still  left.  \ 

Ushuaia  is  of  importance  as  the  Argentine  deporta- 
tion-station. When  I  was  here  in  1902  the  deported 
were  just  building  a  new  prison,  which  was  finished  now 
long  ago.  The  chief.  Major  Herrera,  came  on  board 
and  welcomed  us  in  the  name  of  the  Governor ;  he  and 
the  judge  were  the  only  officials  left,  for  all  the  rest 
had  gone  to  Buenos  Aires  in  the  Primero  de  Mayo. 

During  the  seven  years  that  had  gone  by  since  my 
first  visit  the  place  had  been  greatly  developed.     A  new 


THE  BEAGLE  CHANNEL  305 

street  behind  the  strand  "  Avenue  "  and  several  build- 
ings, above  all  a  new  poUce  station,  had  been  added,  but 
the    Government    House    looked    as    shabby    as    ever 
and  the  jetty  was  even  more  ramshackle  than  before. 
Street  lamps  and  policemen  had  increased  in  number 
and  my  old  friends  looked  well  and  had  grown  fat, 
which  proves  that  the  prison  gives  sustenance  also  to  its 
employees.     It  was  indeed  funny  now  and  then  to  meet 
a  face,  half  forgotten  in  the  mists  of  past  years.  Naturally 
there  was  a  very  hearty  welcome,   and   we  gathered 
in  Club  Ushuaia — another  step  towards  culture — and 
drank  a  toast  to  the  merry  and  unexpected  encounter. 
We  had  not  much  to  do  here,  but  I  wanted  to  return 
to  a  place  where  I  made  some  fine  collections  in  1902, 
and  Halle  went  to  look  for  ancient  shore- lines,  indicating 
a  post-glacial  upheaval  of  the  land.     Nature  in  this  part 
of  the  Beagle  Channel  is  rather  different  from  that 
further  west.     The  total  amount  of  rainfall  is  much/ 
smaller  and  the  evergreen  beach  has  nearly  disappeared 
altogether.     The    mountains    get    lower,    the    Martial  (/ 
range  is  the  last  prominent  part,  where  a  miniature 
glacier  may  be  found  at  a  great  height;    the  highest 
summit,    Mt.    Olivia,    4350    feet,    attracts    attention 
through  its  peculiar  form.     We  made  an  excursion  to  a 
little  stream  coming  from  the  foot  of  this  mountain; 
in  the  forest  it  forms  a  small  waterfall;    round  it  grow 
some  fine  evergreen  beeches  and  there  is  an  uncommonly 
rich   cryptogamic   vegetation.     But   then   we   had   no 
reason  to  stop  in  Ushuaia,  so  we  continued  on  the  15th 
under  loud  protests  from  the  inhabitants  who  wanted 
to  keep  us  there. 


306  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

We  stopped  some  hours  outside  Gable  Island,  where 
Halle  went  on  shore  to  collect  quaternary  fossils  in  the 
barrancas;  the  material  gathered  by  J.  G.  Andersson 
had  shared  the  fate  of  the  Tekenika  collections.  We 
anchored  in  Harberton  Harbour,  where  once  more  I 
found  myself  among  old  friends.  Harberton  is  the  only 
important  farm  on  the  Channel.  When  Argentina 
founded  Ushuaia  the  English  mission  pined  away,  and 
when  Thomas  Bridges  left  his  place,  the  Government 
gave  him  a  piece  of  land  at  Harberton,  where  he  and 
his  sons  have  created  a  model  estabHshment  evoking 
the  admiration  of  every  visitor.  Old  Bridges  had  long 
been  dead  and  only  his  son  Willie  was  left  in  Harberton ; 
his  brothers  had  moved  to  a  new  farm  on  the  Atlantic 
Coast,  to  which  they  had  made  a  road  past  Lago 
Fagnano.  In  1902  we  saw  many  Ona  Indians  in  Harber- 
ton :  now  only  a  few  were  there,  as  most  of  them 
had  gone  to  the  new  farm,  which  is  developing  rapidly ; 
soon  it  will  be  possible  to  keep  a  stock  of  100,000  sheep 
there,  i 

A  few  years  ago  the  Onas  were  the  absolute  masters\ 
of  Tierra  del  Fuego,  where  they  had  vast  hunting- 
grounds.  Most  certainly  they  are  a  branch  of  the 
Tehuelche  people — but  prolonged  isolation  and  the  lack 
of  boats  in  which  to  cross  the  Straits  have  gradually 
changed  their  habits  and  language.  Their  tall  forms 
and  good-looking  faces  remind  one  much  of  the 
Tehuelches  of  Patagonia. 

If  we  consider  how  much  this  people  has  been  in 
contact^with  white  men,  it  is  strange  that  they  hav^ 
not   been   properly  studied   until  recent  years.     The 


THE  BEAGLE  CHANNEL  307 

Salesian  mission  has  a  station  at  Rio  Grande,  but  there 
are  very  few  Indians.  Some  live  on  Dawson  Island, 
some  famiUes  live  in  the  forest  north  of  Lago  Fagnano, 
but  the  rest  are  probably  scattered  over  the  land  south 
of  Rio  Grande.  Not  a  few  work  on  Bridges'  farm.  AVe 
were  told  that  Modesto  who  went  with  J.  G.  Andersson 
to  Lago  Fagnano  and  then  with  both  of  us  to  Gable 
Island  had  been  promoted  "  Capataz "  of  the  carts. 
Also  Anikin  was  ahve  and  Uved  as  shepherd  out  in  the 
camp.  The  brothers  Bridges  never  put  any  constraint 
upon  the  natives.  They  simply  received  them,  gave 
them  work  and  of  course  tried  to  eradicate  bad  customs, 
but  never  kept  them  against  their  will  or  tried  to  con- 
vert them.  The  result  has  been  mutual  satisfaction. 
Messrs.  Bridges  had  cheap  labourers  and  the  natives 
felt  happy  with  some  regular  work.  Their  number  is 
said  to  be  slowly  increasing  at  present — a  glorious 
exception  to  the  rule. 

Originally  we  intended  to  spend  much  more  time  in 
Tierra  del  Fuego  studying  the  Indians.  But  we  had 
been  informed  that  the  well-knoAvn  anthropologist  and 
ethnographer.  Professor  Lehmann-Nietsche  of  La  Plata, 
had  made  extensive  studies  and  ]\Ir.  Bridges  told  me  that 
an  American,  Mr.  Furlong,  had  visited  him  and  made 
observations  on  the  natives.  Thus  we  had  reason  to 
shorten  our  stay  in  these  parts. 

Among  the  interesting  information  I  got  from  Mr. 
Bridges  there  is  one  thing  especially  worthy  of  notice. 
This  was  the  story  of  a  fourth  Indian  tribe,  hitherto 
not  known  to  me.  It  was  called  Hush,  and  lived  along 
the  Straits  of  Le  Maire.     Probably  it  was  a  branch  of 


308  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

the  Ona  people,  perhaps  originally  a  mixture  of  Ona 
and  Yahgan,  but  had  a  language  different  from  either 
of  theirs  and  lived  mainly  on  shell- fish  and  seal,  wander- 
ing along  the  beach.  Canoes  were  not  used.  There 
is  no  pure  Hush  left.  In  Harberton  I  saw  an  old  man 
looking  more  Hke  a  Yahgan;  his  mother  was  of  the 
Yahgan  tribe.  He  had  been  married  to  a  Hush  woman, 
the  last  of  her  race,  and  was  a  widower;  he  had  two 
unmarried  daughters.  They  are  the  last  of  a  small 
people  that  disappears  without  leaving  any  traces 
behind.  We  know  nothing  of  their  habits  or  of  their 
language.  Probably  the  Fuegians  Darwin  found  in 
Good  Success  Bay  belonged  to  this  people. 

We  left  Quensel  in  Harberton  and  continued  east 
in  spite  of  a  falling  barometer  in  order  to  try  a  landing 
in  Slogget  Bay.  This  place  also  had  been  visited  by 
J.  G.  Andersson  and  is  of  importance  for  the  determina- 
tion of  the  age  of  the  Cordillera.  After  having  passed 
the  woody  Picton  Island,  we  came  out  into  open  water. 
We  got  a  gale  of  wind,  and  turned  back  to  land  on 
Picton,  but  had  not  gone  far  before  the  weather 
looked  better  again,  so  we  started  to  run  our  old  course. 
Slogget  Bay  is  quite  open  to  winds  from  south  and  east 
which  often  make  landing  impossible.  Inside  the 
point  we  saw  a  good  landing-place,  where  two  men 
soon  appeared.  We  hurriedly  got  hold  of  some  neces- 
sary things  and  rowed  on  shore.  The  two  fellows 
were  the  only  people  left  of  the  gold- digging  company; 
one  of  them  was  in  charge  of  the  place  and  invited  us 
to  come  to  his  house.  We  had  an  hour's  hard  walk 
along  the  broken  rocks  covered  by  decaying  seaweed, 


THE  BEAGLE  CHANNEL  309 

spreading  a  nauseous  smell.  The  establishment  looked 
very  imposing:  numerous  buildings  in  two  lines; 
near  the  mouth  of  a  stream  stood  a  large  dredge ;  but 
no  \york  was  going  on.  The  men  were  left  to  look  after 
the  place  and  keep  the  machinery  from  rusting.  Still 
they  did  not  know  if  the  company  was  going  to  continue 
the  work  or  not.  / 

Gold  has  been  found  in  many  places  in  Tierra  del  )/ 
Fuego.  Nearly  all  rivers  carry  some  though  only  in 
small  quantities;  and  in  several  places  in  the  loose 
coastal  barranca  the  precious  metal  has  been  found. 
At  such  places  at  first  very  rich  finds  were  made,  but 
no  one  thought  that  these  might  be  the  result  of  the 
sea's  carrying  down  and  washing  the  sand  for  thousands 
of  years  and  thus  would  not  believe  that  after  the  first  rich 
harvest  had  been  gathered,  it  would  become  much  more 
difficult  to  get  anything.  The  gold  fever  broke  out, 
hundreds  of  people  hastened  there.  In  the  parts  where 
we  were  just  now  it  was  Slogget  Bay  and  Lennox  Island 
that  attracted  special  attention.  The  gold  deposits 
had  been  discovered  by  a  certain  engineer,  Popper, 
famous  in  the  history  of  Tierra  del  Fuego,  a  real  con- 
quistador on  a  small  scale.  At  first  people  washed  by 
hand  and  the  yield  was  good.  But  the  future  was  not 
quite  so  golden.  One  company  after  the  other  was 
formed  and  expensive  machinery  purchased.  This 
was  the  end  of  it  all ;  the  best  finds  had  already  been 
made  and  worked  and  the  result  was  not  even  sufficient 
to  pay  the  expenses.  How  many  companies  were 
formed  I  do  not  know,  but  in  Punta  Arenas  alone  there 
were  thirty.     During  our  visit  to  Patagonia  the  news- 


310  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

papers  almost  every  day  contained  the  report  of  some 
"  Sociedad  aurifera "  winding-up — only  in  name  was 
it  "  am-ifera."  When  we  left  Punta  Arenas  to  go  home 
people  had  still  some  behef  in  the  estabHshment  of 
Lennox  Island,  and  the  descriptions  we  got  from  some 
shareholders  sounded  very  promising.  One  thing  we 
understood  that  quite  as  much  money  had  been  spent 
in  fine  dwelling-houses,  electric  light,  hot  and  cold  water 
in  all  bedrooms,  &c. — as  in  Cutter  Cove,  which  I  am 
not  inclined  to  consider  a  good  omen  for  the  future. 
The  man  in  charge  of  Slogget,  Mr.  Dafonte,  could  tell 
beautiful  stories  of  the  administration  of  that  company. 

We  started  at  once  to  look  for  the  fossihferous 
deposits,  which  v/e  found  just  east  of  the  bay,  near  a 
solitary  rock  rising  like  a  fantastic  obelisk  out  of  the 
water  some  fifty  yards  from  the  shore.  It  is  very 
narrow  at  the  base  and  gradually  widens  upwards. 
There  is  a  marine  flora  the  like  of  which  I  had  not  seen 
since  we  were  on  the  Falklands,  and  I  secured  a  very 
rich  harvest.  Both  Halle  and  I  were  very  pleased  with 
our  visit,  and  I  am  sure  that  Mr.  Dafonte  enjoyed 
the  change  offered  by  strangers'  company.  We  returned 
to  Harberton  on  the  17th  to  fetch  Quensel  and  spend 
the  night  there.  How  comfortable  I  found  myself 
in  this  truly  English  family !  The  conversation  was 
about  old  times,  when  the  old  Antarctic  was  at  anchor 
in  the  bay,  and  I  had  to  tell  all  I  knew  about  my  com- 
rades and  promise  to  convey  greetings  to  them  all. 
I  said  good-bye  to  Harberton  with  great  regret,  and  it 
would  be  a  matter  of  great  satisfaction  to  go  there  again. 

In   order  to  return  the  kindness  of  the  Argentiners 


THE  BEAGLE  CHANNEL  311 

we  went  to  Ushuaia  and  gave  a  dinner  on  board.  The 
best  of  spirits  prevailed  in  spite  of  the  dispute  between 
the  two  republics  over  the  boundary  farthest  south, 
not  settled  by  the  Award.  The  Argentine  experts  had 
found  out  that  the  Beagle  Channel  as  a  boundary  was 
all  right,  but  the  question  was :  where  does  the  channel 
go  to  the  extreme  east  ?  north  or  south  of  the  Picton 
and  New  Islands  ?  They  insist  that  it  goes  south  of 
these  islands  which  should  thus  belong  to  Argentina. 

When  we  left  Ushuaia  we  had  the  most  lovely  weather, 
bringing  out  all  the  splendours  of  the  Northwest  Arm. 
Even  Halle  who  is  a  great  enthusiast  for  the  Pampas 
expressed  his  admiration.  The  last  night  was  spent 
in  Puerto  Edwards,  a  typical  Fuegian  cove  on  the  south 
coast  of  the  Brecknock  peninsula.  Without  any 
adventure  we  rounded  it,  cast  a  last  glance  on  the 
channel  scenery  that  had  become  so  familiar  to  us, 
and  for  the  last  time  beheld  the  menacing  silhouette  of 
Cape  Froward.  Late  in  the  evening,  on  March  20,  we 
were  back  again  in  Punta  Arenas. 

Again  I  had  to  find  out  means  of  getting  to  Buenos 
Aires  in  the  cheapest  manner  possible  with  all  our 
bulky  luggage.  I  went  to  the  Argentine  Consul,  who 
told  me  that  he  had  just  purchased  a  steamer  for  his 
Government,  and  after  some  time  it  would  proceed  to 
Buenos  Aires  to  be  delivered  to  the  authorities.  I 
wired  to  the  Minister  of  Marine  and  got  his  permission 
to  use  the  steamer.  But  all  this  would  have  been  quite 
unnecessary  had  I  only  got  the  telegrams  waiting  for 
me  on  my  arrival.  I  got  them  the  next  day.  There 
was  an  answer  from  the  Argentine  Government  saying 


\ 


312  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

that,  as  there  was  no  steamer  running  from  Punta 
Arenas,  cabins  on  the  first  Kosmos  steamer  passing  were 
put  gratuitously  at  our  disposal.  Of  course  we  were  very 
grateful  for  this  new  proof  of  Argentine  generosity. 
Our  luggage  was  brought  up  by  the  above-mentioned 
steamer,  which  carried  nothing  else. 

On  the  25th  we  went  on  board  the  fine  steamer,  the 
Thessalia,  and  in  the  most  agreeable  weather  and 
company  we  left  Punta  Arenas  for  good,  the  town  of 
iron- houses,  gramophones  and  cocktails,  but  also  of 
strenuous  work  and  commercial  industry.  It  was  not 
without  regret  we  saw  it  disappear.  How  much  friend- 
ship, sympathy  and  assistance  had  we  not  met  with 
there.  To  the  very  last  moment  the  Consul,  Mr.  Manns, 
whose  home  was  always  open  to  us,  helped  us  in  every 
way,  and  thanks  to  him  and  all  the  others,  too  numerous 
to  mention,  we  could  look  back  on  a  Magellanic  Expedi- 
tion brought  to  a  happy  end.  On  the  30th  we  arrived 
in  Montevideo,  where  the  Consul,  Mr.  Eogberg,  came  on 
board  to  welcome  us  and  took  us  round  the  town  once 
more.     The  next  morning  we  were  in  Buenos  Aires. 

Already  before  we  left  Sweden  Halle  had  made  up  a 
scheme  to  visit  Rio  Grande  do  Sul  in  Brazil  before  going 
back,  in  order  to  study  certain  deposits  belonging  to  the 
Gloseopteris-series  that  had  been  the  object  of  his  special 
attention  during  the  journey. 

I  had  planned  another  trip  for  Quensel  and  myself, 
a  voyage  to  South  Georgia,  the  remote  island  on  the 
verge  of  the  Antarctic  Sea.  I  knew  this  island  well 
enough,  but  had  important  reasons  for  a  second  visit, 


Panorama  south-west  side  of  Lake  Acigami.     Tierra  del  Fuego. 


The  Winter's  hack."'     Tierra  i^ei.  I'lego. 


THE  BEAGLE  CHANNEL  313 

and  Quenscl  very  much  wanted  to  see  this  supposed 
outpost  of  the  Andes.  Anyhow,  it  is  closely  connected 
with  the  region  we  had  just  left. 

When  in  December  1903  the  members  of  the  Antarctic 
Expedition  returned  to  Buenos  Aires,  rescued  by  the 
Argentine  ship,  the  Uruguay,  Captain  Larsen  who  had 
got  news  of  the  Norwegian  law  against  whaling  was 
able  to  interest  some  people  there  to  make  a  try  south 
and  later  the  "  Compaiiia  Argentina  de  Pesca  "  started. 
With  the  permission  of  Great  Britain  the  company  built 
a  station  on  South  Georgia  and  commenced  work  in 
1905.  We  had  generously  been  granted  passages  on  one' 
of  the  company's  vessels.  The  s.s.  Caclialote  was  ready 
to  sail  vrhen  we  came  to  Buenos  Ah'es,  and  on  April  2 
we  again  left  the  metropolis  of  South  America  and  the 
civilized  world. 


CHAPTER  XX 

A  WINTER  TRIP  TO  SOUTH  GEORGIA 

Again  we  are  alone  with  sky  and  sea.  The  future 
looks  bright,  we  lie  flat  on  the  deck  in  the  sun  enjoying 
our  siesta,  a  company  of  five,  we  two,  Captain  Esbensen, 
his  wife  and  brother-in-law,  all  three  Norwegians. 

Like  the  quiet  flow  of  a  river  the  first  days  went  by. 
Then,  suddenly  the  engines  stopped.  There  was 
much  wondering  and  asking  of  questions.  We  had 
certainly  noticed  that  they  had  begun  to  make  some 
unusual  noise,  but  did  not  think  much  of  it.  A  closer 
investigation  supplied  no  explanation ;  they  were  set 
going  again,  but  the  noise  increased  more  and  more. 
Again  they  were  taken  to  pieces,  but  it  was  impossible 
to  discover  whence  the  mysterious  sound  could  pro- 
ceed. By  a  mere  chance  the  fault  was  found.  One 
of  the  cranks  was  loose  on  the  shaft  and  we  could  not 
continue  until  such  a  serious  fault  had  been  put  right. 
The  engineers  shook  their  heads  and  set  to  work  without 
delay.  Disabled,  we  lay  adrift,  but  the  weather  kept 
fine.  Far  off  a  full-rigged  vessel  passed  at  a  good  speed 
— how  we  did  envy  her  !  Two  bolts  from  opposite 
sides  were  driven  through  the  crank  and  into  the  shaft, 
but  this  work  which  took  a  whole  day  proved  futile. 
The  engine  worked  silently  some  few  minutes,  then  the 
bolts  were  driven  out  by  the  rotation  and  we  had  to 

314 


A  WINTER  TRIP  TO  SOUTH  GEORGIA    315 

stop  again.  A  new  dodge  was  tried  ;  a  bolt  of  steel 
being  driven  right  through  crank  and  shaft  and  clenched 
at  both  ends.  The  weather  had  changed  and  we  knew 
that  we  had  gone  south.  The  north-west  wind  was 
blowing  very  fresh  ;  there  was  a  high  sea  running  and 
we  might  get  a  gale  at  any  moment.  On  deck  the  crew 
was  busy  rigging  yards  on  the  short  masts  and  making 
sails  out  of  old  tarpaulins  so  that  we  might  get  some 
way  on  the  boat.  Those  who  had  nothing  to  do  fished 
for  albatrosses  with  a  hook  baited  with  a  piece  of  meat. 
The  repairs  took  a  day  and  a  half,  but  the  bolt,  one 
inch  in  diameter,  held  for  one  night  only  and  then  was 
literally  cut  into  three  pieces.  There  was  now  only  the 
slight  hope  left  that  we  could  make  a  still  thicker  bolt 
and  also  replace  the  axle- journal,  filling  in  the  semi- 
circular notches  in  crank  and  shaft,  with  a  new  one. 
If  this  did  not  hold,  we  could  do  nothing  more.  We 
could  not  get  enough  sail  on  to  steer  against  wind  and 
sea.  Where  would  currents  and  waves  bear  us  ? 
Certainly  not  to  South  Georgia — we  were  already  making 
jokes  about  our  visit  to  Cape  Town  or  to  Australia. 
But  long  before  that  the  sea  would  probably  smash  up 
the  ship  and  drown  us  all ! 

Eager  expectation  could  be  read  in  all  faces  when  the 
engines  were  once  more  set  going.  We  were  already 
at  April  10  and  ought  to  have  been  at  our  destination. 
Every  five  minutes  we  went  to  listen  but  no  strange 
tunes  were  heard. 

The  storm  came.  Long  enough  had  it  threatened  us. 
It  was  Easter  Eve  ;  and  we  took  turns  in  balancing  a 
big  tureen  in  which  the  eggs  for  the  traditional  toddy 


316  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

were  beaten  up.  Why  should  we  abandon  a  good 
custom  merely  because  of  being  on  board  a  sick  ship  in 
the  S outh  A  tlantic  ?  T  he  night  was  very  uncomf  ortable . 
Our  berths  were  situated  just  above  the  screw,  which 
was  revolving  more  in  the  air  than  in  the  water,  and  it 
was  only  because  I  was  used  to  things  of  that  sort  that 
I  was  able  to  sleep.  In  the  morning  our  yard  hung 
naked,  for  the  wind  had  robbed  us  of  four  of  our  five 
small  sails.  More  than  ever  was  it  necessary  that  the 
engine  should  hold,  and  we  did  not  venture  to  go  at 
more  than  half  speed.  It  felt  like  being  on  slippery 
ice  and  our  anxiety  increased  when  the  fog  came  and 
w^ith  it  the  fear  of  icebergs,  which  according  to  the 
captain's  experiences  might  turn  up  at  any  moment. 
Again  the  engines  started  to  be  noisy,  the  above- 
mentioned  axle-journal  threatened  to  creep  out  of  posi- 
tion and  had  repeatedly  to  be  driven  in  again.  Should 
we  reach  our  destination  ?  Finally,  on  the  15th, 
the  island  came  in  sight.  We  had  longed  for  it  as  if  it 
were  the  Promised  Land  itself,  and  there  it  lay,  the 
lonely  isle,  shining  white,  shimmering  through  the  grey 
fogs  !  It  proved  impossible  to  reach  Cumberland  Bay 
the  same  day  and  we  had  to  spend  another  pitch-dark 
night  on  an  angry  sea  and  with  a  wretched  on-shore 
wind.  The  fear  of  drifting  ashore  made  us  work  out 
from  the  coast,  which  soon  disappeared  in  a  blinding 
snow-storm.  The  easterly  wind  died,  but  we  got  a  gale 
from  the  north-west  instead,  and  in  the  morning  made 
the  pleasant  discovery  that  we  had  driven  past  Cumber- 
land Bay.  We  also  understood  by  our  course  that 
we    had    passed    across    the    dangerous   Nansen-reef, 


'^^m,  ;...^  ^..^       jm. 


The  Nokwkciax   Factory,  South  Geokc;ia. 


SKlVITSHliKi 


I.AR>.I-:S.  ANDKKSSON. 


A    MKKTING    IN    SOUTH    GeORC.IA. 


A  WINTER  TRIP  TO  SOUTH  GEORGIA    317 

where  the  Fridtjof  Nansen  struck  some  years  ago  and 
went  down  like  a  stone,  nine  people  losing  their  lives. 
A  mere  chance  had  saved  us  from  sharing  their  fate. 
The  wind  was  too  stormy  to  permit  of  our  beating  up 
against  it,  and  not  until  the  next  day  did  we  see  land 
again.  The  points  grew  familiar  to  me,  and  in  bright 
sunshine  we  passed  Mt.  Duse  and  turned  into  the  cove. 
It  was  seven  years  since — I  remembered  a  virgin  Pot 
Harbour  with  luxuriant  tussock-grass  and  roaring  sea- 
elephants.  There  is  the  point  where  we  found  the  big 
pots  and  the  old  boat ;  a  small  observatory  now  stands 
there.  Now  the  harbour  lies  quite  open  to  the  eyes. 
A  strong  smell  of  whale-oil  mingles  with  the  stink  of 
the  numerous  carcasses  on  the  shore  where  thousands 
of  screaming  gulls  and  cape-pigeons  have  an  ever- 
lasting feast.  Some  buildings  are  seen  on  the  shore 
at  the  foot  of  an  abrupt  mountain- wall ;  they  are  half 
hidden  by  boats,  coal-heaps  and  oil-barrels  ;  people  are 
running  to  and  fro,  funnels  smoke,  a  whistle  gives  a 
hoarse  prolonged  note 

South  Georgia  which  is  of  about  the  size  of  the 
Swedish  Island  Gotland,  extends  between  54°  and  55° 
S.  lat.  and  36°  and  38°  W.  long.  A  look  at  a  map  of 
the  world  readily  suggests  the  idea  that  the  island  is 
part  of  a  sunken  mountain-fold,  running  from  the  Andes 
over  South  Georgia,  the  South  Sandwiches  and  Orkneys, 
to  Graham  Land.  The  geological  survey  to  a  certain 
degree  confirms  this  opinion,  but  the  great  depths 
between  the  different  links  in  this  broken  chain  are 
difficult  to  explain. 


318  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

South  Greorgia  is  a  much  folded  steep  mountain-ridge, 
running  north-west   to  south-east    and   cut   by  deep 
inlets  on  both  sides.    Its  height  probably  exceeds  6500 
feet  though  only  very  few  summits  have  been  measured 
with  exactitude.    The  impression  of  the  island  is  wild, 
but  grand  :  the  mountains  are  very  steep,  the  siunmits  | , 
sometimes  have  a  rather  fantastic  shape  and  every-  '' 
where  eternal  ice  and  snow  stand  out  against  the  black  ' 
slates.    The  interior  is  more  or  less  covered  by  a  mantle 
of  ice,  the  flap  of  which  hangs  down  into  the  valleys, 
often  reaching  the  water  in  the  innermost  corner  of  an 
inlet.    Their  mouths  are  the  oases  in  South  Georgia, 
where  the  plant-world  thrives  and  animals  have  found 
means  of  existence. 

It  cannot  be  expected  that  a  land  with  the  nature  of 
South  Georgia  should  have  a  mild  climate.  The  varia-v[ 
tions  in  temperatm'e  are  very  slight ;  in  the  summer  I 
it  is  some  centigrades  above,  in  the  winter  some  centi- 
grades  below  zero — the  average  being  a  little  lower  than 
in  the  Falklands — and  unsettled  weather  is  the  most 
prominent  climatic  feature  here  also,  for  the  sun- 
shine may  be  interrupted  by  a  snow-storm,  regardless  of 
whether  it  is  summer  or  winter.  The  strong  south- 
westerly gales  are  terrible,  nor  are  the  local  hurricanes 
less  terrifying,  rushing  down  the  glaciers  almost  without 
a  warning  and  threshing  the  water  into  a  thick  white 
smoke  looking  like  fog  at  a  distance.  The  annual  fall 
of  snow  and  rain  is  large.  Dming  the  winter  snow 
mostly  falls,  sometimes  forming  a  continuous  covering 
thick  enough  to  hide  even  the  tussock-grass.  This  is 
the  same  fine  plant  that  we  met  with  in  the  Falklands, 


A  WINTER  TRIP  TO  SOUTH  GEORGIA    319 

but  in  South  Georgia  it  everywhere  puts  its  mark  on 
the  coastal  region  ;  on  the  shingles  there  is  a  nice 
and  uniform  covering,  but  on  the  steep  slopes  it  grows 
patchwise  and  shows  great  gaps  where  it  looks  as  if  it 
had  slid  down  and  landed  in  disorder  on  the  debris 
below.  The  tussock-grass  must  take  the  place  of  both 
trees  and  bushes  in  South  Georgia.  It  ends  rather 
suddenly  inland  and  is  replaced  by  a  scanty  meadow- 
or  grass- tundra,  where  some  insignificant  flowers  are 
also  seen.  The  cryptogamic  plants  play  a  more  pro- 
minent part  and  are  of  great  interest,  as  many  of  them 
have  only  been  found  here.  South  Georgia  is  the  Juan 
Fernandez  of  mosses. 

The  flora  of  the  sea  is  also  very  remarkable  and  indeed 
it  was  this  that  made  me  undertake  a  second  expedition 
to  the  remote  island.  Most  people  are  more  attracted 
by  animal  life.  The  place  of  honour  is  held  by  the  sea- 
elephant  {Macrorhinus  leoninus).  It  is  the  largest 
seal  living,  a  pliunp,  yellow-brown  creature  anything  up 
to  twenty  feet  long  ;  only  the  old  males  reach  this  y 
length,  the  females  being  much  smaller  and  more 
slender.  The  name  refers  to  the  faculty  of  the  male  of 
blowing  his  nose  into  a  short  trunk  when  angry.  This 
remarkable  animal,  of  a  distinctly  ancient  type,  is 
confined  to  some  islands  in  the  south  and  has  greatly 
decreased  in  number.  It  will  probably  prove  necessary 
for  the  EngUsh  authorities  to  forbid  hunting  him  on 
South  Georgia.  I  was  told  that  American  sealers  do  a 
good  deal  of  poaching  on  the  west  side  of  the  island. 
Other  kinds  of  seals  are  also  found,  especially  the 
sea-leopard  (Ogmorhinus  leftonyx) ;    but  the  southern 


320  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

fur-seal  {Arctocephalus  australis)  seems  to  be  extinct  here. 
Bird  liie  is  abundant.  Most  of  the  species  are  oceanic  ; 
cape-pigeons  and  petrels  have  their  nests  round  the  black 
peaks,  and  on  small  "  tussock-islands "  the  largest 
bird  of  the  oceans,  the  big  albatross  (Dioinedea  exulans) 
breeds.  Two  species  of  penguins  have  small  rookeries, 
amongst  them  the  king-penguin,  hardly  less  magnificent 
than  his  imperial  cousin  of  the  Antarctic.  But  one 
is  still  more  attracted  by  the  small  land-birds,  the 
edible  teal  duck  {Querquedula  Eatoni)  and  the  small 
titlox^  {Anthusantarcticus),T!e,rn.^ik2^d\j  enough  endemic 
in  the  island,  merrily  hopping  about  round  the 
streams. 

In  a  short  while  we  were  moored  alongside  the  quay. 
Larsen's  stout  figure  appeared  ;  I  had  heard  that  after 
his  visit  to  the  South  Sandwich  Islands,  he  had  been 
taken  seriously  ill.  Now  he  looked  himself  again,  and 
we  slapped  each  other's  backs  properly.  In  the  dwell- 
ing-house another  old  acquaintance  received  me,  the 
cook  of  the  Antarctic,  Axel  Andersson,  who  stayed  in  his 
kitchen,  day  in  and  day  out,  during  the  long  severe 
winter  on  Paulet  Island  in  biting  cold,  half  choked  by 
the  nauseous  smoke  from  the  blubber.  A  remarkable 
encounter  indeed  ;  three  old  comrades  re-united  after 
seven  years  on  one  of  the  places  where  they  had  camped 
together.  The  place  had  changed  more  than  we ; 
I  hardly  knew  Pot  Harbour  with  its  shores  spoilt  and 
its  air  polluted.  With  great  satisfaction  we  found  the 
low  land  to  be  free  of  snow,  and  the  first  excursion  gave 
good  results.  Judge  of  our  surprise  when  the  winter 
suddenly  arrived  !    It  snowed  day  and  night,  and  did 


A  WINTER  TRIP  TO  SOUTH  GEORGIA    321 

uot  stop  uutil  tlie  ground  was  covered  by  snow,  two  feet 
deep,  under  which  the  plants  remained  out  of  reach. 
We  comforted  ourselves  with  the  fervent  hope  that 
the  snow  would  melt  within  a  few  days,  and  I  started 
to  work  on  the  seaweeds,  for  here  the  snow  could 
not  hinder  me.  The  results  obtained  gave  me  reason 
to  be  contented  with  the  jom'ney,  in  spite  of  the  pro- 
phecy of  mild  weather  never  coming  true,  for  it  was  not 
a  passing  snow-storm,  but  the  long  winter  that  had  come 
in  earnest.  It  is  obvious  that  Quensel  could  hardly 
make  any  geological  observations,  but  there  was  no  help 
for  it.    Our  good  luck  had  at  last  abandoned  us. 

Larsen  was  kind  enough  to  put  a  steamer,  originally 
purchased  to  tow  whales  with,  at  our  disposal  for  a 
trip  round  the  fiords,  but  we  put  it  ofi  as  long  as  we  could 
hope  to  get  suitable  weather.  Waiting,  however, 
seemed  hopeless  and  we  set  out.  On  April  24  the  Undine 
left  Pot  Harbour — seven  years  earlier,  also  in  Cumber- 
land Bay  the  Swedish  Antarctic  Expedition  had  cele- 
brated the  deed  of  the  Vega.  It  was  the  first  fine  day 
since  our  arrival.  The  island  lay  there,  radiant  in  all 
its  Antarctic  beauty,  with  every  summit  clear  and 
sharp.  We  steered  out  to  the  sea  and  then  followed 
the  coast  for  some  distance,  making  a  visit  to  the  so- 
called  Stromnaes  fiord.  There  were  three  whaling 
steamers  belonging  to  a  Tonsberg  Company,  laid  up 
for  the  winter.  Larsen's  company  was  all  but  alone 
on  the  island  at  that  date,  and  the  only  one  with  a  land 
station  by  means  of  which  it  is  possible  to  make  far  more 
out  of  the  whales  than  by  floating  boilers.  They  all 
come  from  Norway  to  spend  the  favourable  season. 


322  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

According  to  Larsen  there  is  already  to  be  noticed  a 
certain  decrease  in  the  number  of  whales,  and  by-and- 
by  the  Governor  of  the  Falklands  will  have  to  regulate    i 
the  whaling  in  some  manner  or  the  Colony  will  lose  an  X 
important  part  of  its  income.    Whalers  have  now  reached   \ 
the  Antarctic  Islands  also  and  there  are  stations  on 
the  South  Orkneys  and  also  on  Deception  Island,  the 
famous  old  crater. 

We  continued  north  along  the  coast,  passed  the 
entrances  of  several  fiords  and  entered  the  Bay  of  Isles. 
The  fine  weather  was  gone  again,  an  easterly  gale  and 
snow  and  fog  came  after  us  at  a  gallop,  and  we  anchored 
at  the  very  last  moment  before  an  impenetrable  mist 
had  hidden  land  and  water  from  us.  Had  not  Captain 
Angell  been  so  familiar  with  all  corners  here,  the  night 
would  have  been  rather  unpleasant.  The  Undine, 
which  is  built  on  very  elegant  lines  and  makes  good  speed, 
was  once  Queen  Victoria  of  England's  pleasure-yacht ; 
in  her  declining  years  she  still  bears  evidence  of  having 
seen  better  days.  The  large  saloons  and  cabins  with 
their  real  mahogany  fittings  tell  us  that  we  are  not 
on  board  a  common  tug. 

The  bad  weather  continued,  but  we  were  able  to  spend 
the  next  day  on  shore.  At  night  the  wind  increased, 
and  in  the  morning  we  had  terrible  weather  with  a 
mixture  of  rain,  snow,  and  hail.  However,  we  resolved 
to  set  out  and  came  out  in  the  heavy  sea  round  Cape 
BuUer.  Just  before  nightfall  we  ran  into  a  shallow 
bay,  called  by  the  Norwegian  whalers  Rightwhale 
Cove.  The  wind  grew  more  and  more  squally,  a  menac- 
ing bank  of  leaden  clouds  gathered  in  a  westerly  direc- 


A  WINTER  TRIP  TO  SOUTH  GEORGIA   323 

tiou  and  the  night  was  indeed  anything  but  pleasant. 
We  had  two  anchors  out  and  the  engines  ready,  but  every 
now  and  then  the  captain  went  on  deck  to  have  a  look 
at  the  situation,  for  the  hurricane  was  so  terrible  and 
the  strains  on  the  chains  so  violent,  that  every  moment 
we  expected  to  see  them  break.    In  the  morning  the 
same  conditions  prevailed,  and  it  was  hardly  possible 
to  stand  on  deck.    Through  the  white  foam  we  heard 
the  roaring  of  the  sea-elephants  in  the  tussock,  but 
could  not  see  them  nor  get  the  least  glimpse  of  land, 
in  spite  of  being  so  near.    Now  and  then  came  a  sharp 
and  sudden  snow-squall.    It  was  a  pity  that  we  had 
not  got  an  anemometer  ;  the  iron-rail  round  the  bridge 
was  bent  by  the  pre^nre  of  the  canvas,  which  perhaps 
gives  an  idea  of  the  velocity  of  the  wind.    Down  in  the 
saloon  we  read  or  played  cards  and  looked  at  the 
barographer,  the  index  of  which  jumped  a  couple  of 
millimetres  at  a  time.    In  the  evening  the  weather 
improved  and  we  had  a  tolerably  calm  night.     But  alas  ! 
our  time  was  up  ;  we  expected  that  the  Cachalote  would 
be  ready  to  leave  and  with  sore  hearts  we  had  to  abandon 
our  schemes  of  visiting  the  west  coast.    Settled  good 
weather  could  not  be  expected,  so  although  another 
snowstorm  came  on  we  left  the  harbour,  and  made  for 
the  station.    The  fog  was  so  dense  that  after  haH  an 
hour  we  had  lost  every  landmark  and  wondered  how  we 
should  find  our  way  back.    Then,  as  if  by  magic,  the 
fog  lay  behind  us  like  a  wall  and  we  were  out  in  the 
sunshine.    We  found  ourselves  outside  Stromnaes  Bay 
and  were  soon  back  in  Pot  Harbour. 
During  our  absence  the  three  small  steamers  had  been 


324  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

out  fishing  and  got  several  whales,  two  of  them  right 
whales  {Balaena  australis),  but  once  more  the  cutting- 
up  decks  were  empty  and  it  looked  as  if  we  should  leave 
South  Georgia  without  having  seen  whale-fishing.  The 
weather  was  still  miserable  and  the  Cachalote  had  soon 
taken  in  her  cargo.  But  then  prospects  lightened. 
On  the  last  of  April  the  steamers  were  out  again  and 
came  back  in  the  night  with  one  right  whale  and  some 
humpbacks,  and  at  once  we  made  up  our  minds  to  go 
with  one  of  them  as  many  whales  were  reported  forty 
miles  from  the  coast.  Hurriedly  we  took  our  oilskins 
and  climbed  on  board,  and  the  next  moment  the  Karl 
started.  She  is  a  modern  whaler,  built  of  steel  and 
specially  constructed  for  the  purpose  ;  in  comparison 
with  her  size  (about  150  tons),  the  engines  and  winches 
may  be  described  as  Very  powerful.  In  the  bows 
is  the  short,  thick  gun ;  it  is  loaded,  and  the  point  of 
the  harpoon,  where  the  shell  is,  protrudes  from  the 
mouth.  From  there  a  strong  hawser  goes  down  into 
the  hull,  where  innumerable  fathoms  lie  neatly  coiled 
ready  to  run  out. 

From  the  mast-head  single  whales  are  seen  blowing, 
but  it  is  not  worth  while  going  after  them,  if  one  is  sure 
that  there  is  a  school  further  out.  Now  we  catch  sight 
of  one  of  the  other  steamers.  With  the  glasses  we  see 
that  her  line  is  taut ;  evidently  there  is  a  fish  on  the 
hook,  and  soon  we  are  amidst  the  school.  Monsters  dive 
up  everywhere,  swimming  in  long  files,  blowing  and 
snorting,  a  little  more  of  the  fat  shining  back  is  seen, 
for  an  instant  the  "  hump  "  is  above  water  and  then 
the  beast  disappears.    They  come  and  go  all  round, 


.--^,,  -_  ._^ 

^"'-. 

-      - 



bl. 

. 

'j^KfU^^tB^^^^S^^ 

K^— '"■ 

B^, 

^^^Bm 

WSi^,^-.  :■ 

.^a^^^^^^^BI 

'-..**     ^.^^^^^^^^^^^^B^^^M 

^^^^^H^^Qca^r' ' 

-'^■^iI5^ 

t*^*-^^^^^""^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

^3H 

^If 

gn 

i!l^ 

^^1 

Hr.Mi'KACK  Whai.k,   lpsiue  down,  South  Geokc.ia. 


Thki:i-:  Kn;iir  wii ai.k.->,  Soriii  Gkokiwa. 


A  WINTER  TRIP  TO  SOUTH  GEORGIA    325 

not  the  least  disturbed  by  our  presence  ;  the  water  is 
thick  with  their  food,  small  crustaceans  and  other 
marine  organisms,  and  they  are  not  inclined  to  leave 
their  good  feeding-grounds,  for  they  do  not  understand 
that  the  "  steel-whales  "  are  armed  to  the  teeth  and 
are  only  waiting  for  a  chance  to  spread  death  and  de- 
struction among  them. 

Now  we  open  the  ball.  The  small,  bearded  "  gunner," 
who  is  also  captain  of  the  ship,  takes  up  his  position 
behind  the  gun.  Three  big  humpbacks  come  swunming 
obliquely  towards  us :  "Stop  .  .  .  hard  port  .  .  .  slow 
ahead  !  "  With  a  steady  hand  he  sights  and  fires  the 
gun — shell  and  harpoon  are  buried  in  the  shining  back — 
a  sudden  jerk  and  the  rope  runs  out  at  a  tremendous 
speed !  As  he  dives  the  whale  sends  a  cloud  of  blood 
from  his  nostrils  ;  then  a  dull  report  is  heard,  the  shell 
has  burst,  and  soon  he  rises  to  the  surface  dead.  As 
the  shot  is  fired  the  fuse  of  the  shell  takes  fire  and  burns, 
casting  the  sparks  backwards  for  four  seconds  ;  then 
a  spark  reaches  the  charge,  which  instantly  explodes 
and  kills  the  whale,  if  the  shot  is  a  good  one.  Naturally 
it  is  important  that  the  shell  does  not  explode  too  early. 
The  animal  is  hauled  in  under  the  bows  ;  a  chain  is  fixed 
round  the  caudal  fin  and  the  beast  is  hauled  up  to  the 
gunwhale.  The  rope  of  the  harpoon  is  cut  and  so  are 
the  big  wings  of  the  fin,  for  they  would  check  the  ship's 
speed  too  much.  A  mark  is  put  at  the  edge  of  the  fin 
indicating  that  only  one  harpoon  has  been  used ;  the 
harpooner  sets  his  private  mark,  the  chain  is  fixed 
properly,  the  tail  lowered,  and  we  are  ready  for  another 
shot.    Meanwhile  we  have  been  able  to  follow  the  move- 


326  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

ments  of  the  other  steamer  on  the  battle-field,  and  this 
is  not  less  interesting.  They  have  got  another  whale, 
but  did  not  manage  him  and  he  is  swimming  at  quite  a 
fair  speed  towing  the  Vessel  behind  him.  They  dis- 
appear in  the  fog,  and  come  out  again  after  a  while. 
The  beast  has  still  got  strength  left  and,  snorting  blood, 
he  joins  two  others  and  tries  to  keep  up  with  them, 
but  at  last  tires,  is  hauled  within  range  and  a  second 
harpoon  finishes  hitn  on  the  spot. 

We  set  to  work  again  and  got  another  whale  before 
dark.  With  a  nice  fish  on  each  bow  we  turn  back. 
Both  are  humpback  whales  (Megaptera) ;  we  have  seen 
both  blue  and  fin- whales,  but  were  not  equipped  with 
ropes  strong  enough  to  hold  them.  They  are  not 
generally  killed  by  one  harpoon,  but  often  run  out  the 
line  to  the  end  and  set  off  a.t  a  tremendous  speed,  mad 
with  rage.  It  sometimes  happens  that  one  must  cut 
the  line  after  a  wild  chase  of  several  hours. 

The  day's  catch  is  worth  about  £160,  but  had  we  got 
out  sooner  the  sum  would  have  been  double.  There  are 
days  when  all  the  steamers  come  in  with  four  whales 
each ;  that  means  money,  and  the  harpooner  has 
reason  to  be  satisfied,  too,  as  for  every  full-grown 
humpback  he  gets  ten  crowns  extra  ;  if  it  is  a  right  whale 
he  puts  one  hundred  crowns  in  his  pocket.  But  a  good 
right  whale  is  worth  five  or  six  hundred  pounds.  This 
species  is  nearly  related  to  the  big  Balaena  of  the  north. 
Its  great  value  lies  in  the  baleens  which  are  from  six 
to  eight  feet  long. 

Night  has  come  and  we  must  try  to  find  the  station. 
The   snow-fog  is  very  thick,   the  moonlight  cannot 


A  WINTER  TRIP  TO  SOUTH  GEORGIA  327 

penetrate  it.  We  have  two  whales  to  tow  and  progress 
is  slow.  Sometimes  we  lie  down  on  a  sofa,  trying  to 
sleep,  but  soon  curiosity  drives  us  out  again  to  look  at 
the  weather.  It  is  still  snowing,  and  pitch  dark — 
better  to  sleep,  if  we  can,  in  spite  of  the  heavy  rolling. 

I  wake  up  as  the  engines  stop  and  go  out  on  deck  to 
look.  We  are  close  on  the  shore,  a  mountain  wall 
rises  over  our  heads  and  all  round  there  are  masses  of 
kelp.  The  captain  does  not  know  where  we  are,  but 
after  a  while  he  realises  that  we  have  come  too  far  south. 
We  back  out  again  and  change  our  course,  old  landmarks 
appear,  well-known  snow-patches,  and  soon  we  are 
back  in  Pot  Harbour  which  is  asleep  in  the  silent  winter- 
night.  It  is  3.30  A.M.  when  we  plunge  into  the  snow- 
drifts to  reach  the  house.  Who  knows  if  we  should 
have  gone  to  bed  earlier  had  we  been  in  Upsala.  Yester- 
day it  was  May  1  .*    And  a  rather  original  one  too  ! 

The  whales  are  moored  round  buoys  and  jetties. 
Most  of  them  belly-up,  showing  the  long,  peculiar 
furrows.  Some  are  so  filled  with  gases  that  they  look 
like  balloons  ready  to  burst.  Now  comes  the  slicing 
and  stripping.  Tail  first  they  are  winched  up  on  to  the 
cutting-up  stage,  where  some  men  provided  with  long- 
handled  knives,  are  ready  to  receive  them.  First  the 
curious  crustaceans — which  live  in  their  houses  on  the 
whale,  profiting  from  his  rich  hunting-ground — must  be 
plucked  ofi ;  they  are  fine  large  colonies  of  Balanids, 
leading  a  very  easy  and  comfortable  life.  Slice  after 
slice  of  blubber  is  cut  off,  the  fat  round  the  intestines 

*  At  the  Swedish  universities  May  1  is  a  day  of  great  feasting 
and  rejoicingi 


328  THE  WILDS  OF  PATAGONIA 

and  the  tongue  are  also  taken,  as  well  as  the  gigantic 
cheek-bones.  The  meat  is  edible  if  not  very  delicious. 
The  blubber  is  sent  to  a  machine  which  cuts  it  into 
thin  slices,  and  then  it  is  carried  into  the  big  tanks, 
where  it  is  boiled  down  to  oil  for  twenty-four  hours. 
The  cheekbones  are  sawn  up  and  put  into  a  closed 
tank,  where  steam  under  high  pressure  is  sent  in ;  the 
water  is  drawn  off  and  the  oil  collected.  The  baleens 
are  treated  in  a  special  house.  They  are  well  washed 
in  a  small  stream,  are  scraped  and  brushed,  dried, 
poHshed  and  packed  into  bags. 

On  May  4  the  Cachalote  was  ready — as  ready  as  she 
could  get.  The  engineers  had  done  all  they  could,  but 
any  day  the  new  bolt  might  give,  and  Larsen  dared 
not  send  the  steamer  alone  to  Buenos  Aires,  but  let 
the  Undine  accompany  her.  It  was  a  long  journey 
as  we  had  bad  weather  at  first.  It  was  very  pleasant 
to  stand  on  the  bridge  looking  at  the  Undine,  for  she 
rolled  so  heavily  that  we  sometimes  could  see  the  keel. 
'.Quensel  had  not  felt  very  comfortable  in  the  stern 
of  the  Cachalote  and  preferred  to  go  by  the  other  steamer, 
where  he  got  a  berth  amidship,  but  nothing  could  make 
us  leave  our  old  vessel  with  her  excellent  kitchen. 
The  table  of  the  Undine  was  very  simple.  One  day  we 
killed  a  fat  goose  and  by  means  of  signal-flags  the 
passengers  of  the  Undine  were  invited  to  come  on  board 
and  have  dinner  with  us.  In  order  to  annoy  them  we 
also  signalled  the  word  "  goose."  Come  they  could  not, 
for  it  was  impossible  to  put  a  boat  off.  They  answered 
us  very  impolitely  ! 

After  some  days  the  engines  began  to  give  trouble  and 


A  WINTER  TRIP  TO  SOUTH  GEORGIA    329 

we  tried  to  get  a  hawser  on  board  the  Undine,  but  failed 
owing  to  the  heavy  sea.  She  was  to  tow  ns  when  repair- 
ing. The  next  afternoon  we  repeated  the  experiment 
with  better  success.  On  May  14  land  was  seen,  and  the 
day  after  we  were  moored  in  the  Boca,  one  of  Buenos 
Aires  suburbs,  and  I  dare  say  all  of  us  felt  pleased  that 
the  somewhat  adventurous  passage  had  come  to  a 
happy  conclusion. 

In  Buenos  Aires  we  had  to  wait  some  time  before 
there  was  a  Swedish  steamer.  Halle  came  back  from 
his  journey ;  he  had  not  been  troubled  by  snow  or 
storm,  and  was  pleased  with  everything.  On  May  23 
we  went  on  board  the  Croivn  Princess  Victoria,  belonging 
to  the  Johnson  Line.  We  had  a  delightful  run  and  shall 
always  remember  the  captain,  Mr.  Camp,  the  officers 
and  crew,  with  feelings  of  deep  gratitude.  It  was  agree- 
able to  get  a  good  rest  under  a  tropical  sun  after  so  much 
hard  work.  But  better  than  anything  we  had  experi- 
enced in  our  various  travels,  was  the  perfiune  of  the 
young  birch  trees  from  the  Scandianavian  skerries,  J/ 
which  came  in  sight  on  June  21.  On  that  same  day 
we  arrived  in  Christiania,  and  by  different  routes  the 
members  of  the  expedition  hastened  to  their  homes  in 
Sweden. 


INDEX 


AcBVEDO,  Captain  P.,  297 

Acigami,  Lake,  300  ;    boat  excursion 

on,  301 ;  high  summits  west  of,  301 
Aconcagua,  Mount,  132 ;    river  jour- 
ney along,  129 
Adalbert   Channel,   passing   through, 

87 
Adam,  Mount,  ascent  of,  21 
Admiralty  Inlet,  nature  of,  38 
Albatross  Channel,  passing  through, 

87 
Albatrosses,  fishing  of,  315 
Alerce,  108 

Allardyce,  W.  L.,  ix.  3,  31 
Allen,  A.  L.,  x. 

Allen  Gardiner  Bay,  visit  to,  303 
Aim,  steamer,  90 
Alslrcemeria,  210 
Ancud,    aspect    of,    106 ;     cathedral, 

108;    harbour,    106;     plaza,    108; 

schools,  107 
Andersson,  A.,  320 
Andersson,  J.   G.,  vii.  40,  303,  306, 

307,  308 
Andersson,  K.,  300 
Andrew  Sound,  visit  to,  87 
Anita   Channel,    narrow   passage    in, 

82 
Antarctic  Expedition,  40 
Anthus  antarclicus,  320 
Antiguos  River,  adventurous  descent 

to,  216 
Arauco  district,  geological  survey  in, 

126 
Arauz  Bay,  seeking  refuge  in,  74 
Arctocephalvs  australis,  320 
Argentino,  Lake,  boat  excursion  on, 

272  ;    icebergs,  277  ;    storms,  275, 

276 
Aristotelia  magui,  137 
Armadillo,  209 
Arrayi'in,  195 
Asado,  43,  169 
Aspero,  Mount,  ascent  of,  235 
Auchenia  hvanaco,  42 
Avsen  Valley,  193  ;    excursion  to  the 

'Pacific,  194 ;  roads,  193,  194 


Azara,  Lake,  boat  excursion  on,  234 

Azara  lanceolata,  195 

Azopardo    River,    camping    at,    39 ; 

canvas  boat  on,  57 
Azopardo  VaUey,  41 

Baguales  Mountains,  South  Pata- 
gonia, crossing  of,  267 

Baguales  Range,  Aysen  Vallej',  cross- 
ing of,  194 

Bahia  del  Padre,  visit  to,  143 

Baker  Company,  86 

Baker  Inlet,  visit  to,  86 

Baker,  River,  crossing  of,  239 ;  sources, 
225 

Balcena  australis,  324 

Balanids  on  whales,  327 

Baleens,  treatment  of,  328 

Bamboo,  115,  196 

Bariloche,  visit  to,  162 ;  departure 
from,  165 

Barrow  Cove,  visit  to,  298 

Bay  of  Isles,  visit  to,  322 

Beagle  Channel,  ancient  shore-linea 
in,  305 ;  glaciers,  299 ;  nature  of 
east  part,  305  ;  of  west  part,  299, 
311 

Belgrano,  Lake,  camping  on,  229 ; 
boat  excursion,  233 ;  nature  of, 
233  ;  shallow  part,  237 

Benney,  Messrs.,  x.  21 

Berheris  buxifolia,  56;    Daruinii,  115 

Berthon  boats,  excursions  with,  41, 
45,  247 

Bertrand,  R.,  x. 

Betbeder  Valley,  survey  of,  40,  51 

Billing,  J.,  127 

Bismarck  Glacier,  remarkable  nature 
of,  273 

Blanco,  Moimt,  236  (west  of  Lake 
Belgrano) ;   287  (west  of  Payne) 

Bhclimim  magcUanicum,  84 

Boklund,  Mr.,  133 

Bolus,  Mr.,  X.  25 

Bordes,  J.,  75,  77,  79,  87 

Brand,  Mr.,  190 

Brecknock  Fas«age,  298 


INDEX 


331 


Bridges,  Th.,  302 

Bridges,  W.,  40,  306 

Brockow.  C,  33 

Brookes,  Mr..  205 

Brunei,  A..  263 

Bueno,  Point,  89  ;   Indians  in,  84 

Buenos   Aires,   Lake,   visit   to,   206 ; 

Mount,  ascent  of,  200 
Buller,  Cape,  322 
Burbury,  T.,  268,  271,  278 

Cabeza  del  Mab,  nature  of,  295 

Cachalote,  steamer,  313  ;  damage  to, 
314 

"Calafate,"  56 

Calbuco,  volcano,  158 

Cameron,  A.,  271 

Camp,  v.,  329 

Carnpsidiitm  chihnse,  99 

"Canelo,"  56 

Canprejo  River,  camping  at,  200 

Canis  Azarce,  279  ;  falkiandicus,  13 

Caracoles,  raihvay  station,  130 

Carbon  River,  valley  of,  243 

Casinci,  steamer,  134 

Castillo  farm,  visit  to,  268 

Castro,  appearance  and  history  of, 
117 

Cattle,  Mr.,  265 

Centinela,  Mount,  221 ;   valley  of,  267 

Ce.re.us,  128 

Chacao  Channel,  106 

Chaigneau,  F.,  33 

Chalia  River,  sources  of,  199 

Challenger  Expedition,  30 

"Charqui  "  (dried  meat).  111 

Chasm  Reach,  echo  in,  87 

"Chaura,"  56 

"Chicha,"  110 

Chilcas  River,  camping  at,  213 

Chile,  central  valley  of,  128  ;  longi- 
tudinal railway,  133 ;  national 
feast,  132 

Chilean  money,  fluctuation  of,  296 

Chili olrichuni  diffusum,  245 

Chiloe,  bullock-carts,  115 ;  Catholic 
church,  107  ;  culture  of  potatoes, 
114  ;  excursions  on  horseback,  111  ; 
flamingos,  113  ;  forests,  115  ; 
history,  104;  life  in,  110;  nature, 
109;  oysters,  112;  roads,  108, 
111,  115  ;  valuable  timber,  108  ; 
whaling,  112 

Chilotes,  character  of,  109 

Chloiphaga,  28,  44 

Chubut  River,  crossing  of,  175 

Chusquea  colikite,  115;    quila,  115 

"aruelillo,"  196 

Cisnee  Valley,  excursion  into,  188 


Ciudad  de  los  C^sareg,  151 

Clarke,  Mr.,  180 

Cobb,  F,  E.,  ix. 

Cochamo  Company,  184 

Cochayuyo,  110 

Colihue,  115,  196 

Compaiiia,  Argentina  de  Pesca,  313  ; 
comercial  y  Ganadera  Chile-Argen- 
tina, 156,  172  ;  industrial  del  Rio 
Aysen,  193 

Concepcion,  visit  to,  126 

Condor,  50,  244 

Condor,  steamer,  298 

Consuelo  Harbour,  visit  to,  283 

Contreras,  Mount,  268 

"Copihue,"  84,  254 

Corcolen,  195 

Corcovado  Gulf,  volcanoes,  113,  122  ; 
Mount  Corcovado,  landing  at, 
123 

Corintos  River,  crossing  of,  181 

Coronel,  visit  to,  126 

Corral,  visit  to,  125 

Cox,  G.,  153 

Coyaike  bajo,  visit  to,  193 

Crown  Princess  Victoria,  steamer, 
returning  on,  329 

Ctenomys  magellanicus,  189 

Cuarenta  Dias  Harbour,  visit  to,  79 

Cumberland  Bay,  317 

Curtis,  Mr.,  129 

Cutter  Cove,  visit  to,  63 

Cypress,  84 

Dafonte,  Mr.,  310 

Darwm,   Ch.,  30,  75,   105,   120,   144, 

152,  299,  308 
Darwin  Glacier,  300  ;   Harbour,  28 
Dasypus  minutus,  209 
Dawson     Island,     visit     to     mission 

station,  35 
Day,  R.,  183 
Deseado,    Lake,    excursion    to,    37 ; 

River,  nature  of,  212 
Diaz  Palacios,  Lake,  62 
Diomedea  chlororhyncha,  16  ;   exulans, 

320 
Donoso,  Mount,  ascent  of,  281 
Douglas      Bay,     visit      to     mission 

station,  302 
Dreyfus,  Mr.,  112 
Drimys  Winieri,  43 
Dtic  d'Auinale,  sailing  vessel,  15 
Dun,  Mr.,  193 
Durvillea,  9,  110 
Dus^n,  P.,  156 

Eberhabd,  H.,  288,  291 
Edwards,  Port,  311 


332 


INDEX 


Ekdahl,  G.,  127 
Embothrium  coccineum,  196 
Empetrum  ruhrum,  51 
English-Argentine    Land    Company, 

176 
English  Harbour,  landing  in,  142 
English  Narrows,  85 
Escallonia,  250 
Escarpada   Island,  old   Indian  camp 

on,  66 
Esguel  Mountains,  180 
Espersen,  Mr.,  205 
Etidyptes  chnjsocome,  16  ;   remarkable 

track  of,  17 
Evangelistas     Islands,     landing     on, 

80  ;   nature  of,  81 
Excelsior  Sound,  Indian  portage  in, 

101 

Fagnano,  Lake,  appearance  of,  42 ; 
arrival  at,  43  ;  boat  trip  on,  54  ; 
camp  at,  47  ;  depth  of,  57  ;  history 
of  exploration,  34 ;  return  from, 
58  ;    road  past,  306 

Falkland  Islands,  albatross  rookery, 
16;  alpine  plants,  21;  bishop,  4; 
boggy  ground,  29  ;  climate,  6,  21, 
23  ;  climate  during  Ice  Age,  17  ; 
fossil  forest,  18 ;  foxes,  13 ; 
history,  22,  30  ;  lack  of  trees,  6, 
17  ;  marine  life,  8,  9  ;  mountainous 
district,  21  ;  nature,  6,  10  ;  origin 
of  stone-runs,  18  ;  outlying  islands, 
13,  14 ;  penguin  rookery,  16 ; 
position,  2  ;  riding  in,  19,  24,  27, 
30  ;  sheepfarming,  20  ;  shepherds, 
20;  tidal  currents,  11,  12,  22; 
tussock  grass,  7,  16  ;  wild  cattle, 
12 

Falkland  Island  Company,  4 

Fallos  Channel,  87 

Felis  concolor,  203 

Felix  Lighthouse,  90 

Felton,  A.,  x.  15 

Fenix  River,  207  ;  vegetation  at,  210  ; 
water-divide  of,  212 

Ferrier,  W.,  280,  285,  286 

Fitzroy's  excursion  in  Patagonia, 
152 

Fitzroy  Channel,  65 

Filzroya  Patagonica,  108 

Flach,  C,  185 

Foley,  Ch.,  x.  28 

Fonck,  C,  153 

Fontaine  River,  survey  of  valley, 
44 

Fosiles  River,  floatmg  soil  at  sources, 
244 ;  geological  discoveries  at,  245 ; 
mountain  pass,  245 


Fortuna,  Port,  298 

Fox  Bay,  visit  to,  25 

Frank,  S.,  246 

Fria,  Laguna,  160 

Frias  Valley,  excursion  into,  188 

Frio,  Lago,  274 

Fro  ward.  Cape,  63,  311 

Fuchsia  magdlanica,  65 

Fuhr,  K.,  263 

Fitrcifer  chilensis,  189 

Furlong,  Ch.,  307 

Gable  Island,  fossils  on,  306 

Gajardo  Channel,  survey  in,  69,  70 

Gajardo,  T.,  62 

Galapagos  Islands,  144 

Gallant,  Port,  Indians  in,  77 

Gardiner,  H.,  152 

Gesa  Inlet,  discovery  of,  289 

Gio  River,  camping  at,  221 

Girling,  W.  C,  ix.  2 

Glacier  Sound,  299 

Glossopteris,  27,  312 

Glossotherium,  290 

Gomez,  Port,  visits  to,  38,  61 

Granfelt,  G.,  126 

Grappler,  Port,  Indians  in,  84,  85 

de  Grey,  Lake  and  River,  286 

Guanaco,    42,   52,   208;    curiosity  of, 

220 ;      large     herds,      179,      191  ; 

tracks,  41,  45,  219 
Guia  Narrows,  Indians  in,  84 
Gunnera  peltata,  139 
Guyon,  Mr.,  66 
Gylden,  0.,  1 

Halle,  J.  G.,  viii. 

Harberton  Harbour,  visit  to,  306, 
310 

Harding,  W.,  ix,  4,  27 

"Harina  tostada,"  111 

Hatcher  Expedition,  155,  242 

Hauthal,  R.,  155,  273 

Herrera,  Mr.,  304 

Hielo,  River,  286  ;   sources  of,  287 

Hill  Cove,  settlement  in,  19 

Hogberg,  C,  240,  247 

Holdich,  Sir  J.,  155 

Hooker,  Sir  J.  D.,  30 

Hope  Bay,  camping  in,  38,  59 

Hoste  Island,  303 

Howard,  Port,  24 

Huafo  Island,  excursion  to,  118 ; 
forests  on,  119;  gales,  118,  120; 
%\-ild  dogs,  119 

Huapiguilan  Islands,  118,  120 

Huemul,  first  encounter,  189  ;  hunt- 
ing, 218,  226;  tameness,  220, 
283 


INDEX 


333 


lluemul,    steamer,     33,    00,    02,    05 ; 

aground,  72  ;   damaged,  73 
Huilliehcs,  105 
Hiilphere,  IL,  286 
Hush  Indians,  307 
Hymenophyllum,  GG,  139 

Icy  Reach,  drifting  ice  in,  85 

Inca  Lake,  130 

Indians  of  Patagonian  Channels, 
appearance,  92  ;  food,  95  ;  future, 
103 ;  garments,  94 ;  habits,  93, 
94 ;  industry,  94,  97  ;  language, 
102 ;  polvgamv,  97  ;  portages, 
101;  travels,  99,  100;  weapons, 
96 

Indian  canoe,  construction  of,  91, 
99 

Indian  interpreter,  77 

Inocentes  Channel,  85 

Jeixemexi  V^vllev,  difficult  passage, 

217 
Jerome     Channel,     nature     of,     63 ; 

nightly  passage,  73 
Johow,  F.,  139 
Jones,  Mr.,  162 
Joya,  Lake,  235 
Juan  Fernandez  Islands,    arrival  at, 

135  ;   first  appearance,  135  ;  history 

of   discovery,    146 ;   lobsters,   147 ; 

magui,     137 ;      palm    trees,     138 ; 

remarkable     flora,     137 ;      sandal 

tree,  141  ;   situation,  134 
Jiiania  austral  is,  138 
Juncal,  railway  station,  129 

Kachaik,  Mount,  aspect  of,  258 
Karl,    steamer,    limiting    whales    on, 

324 
Kelpgeese,  44 
Kentish  Islands,  88 
King,  Cape,  82 
Koslowsky  Valley,  201 
Kriiger,  P.,  155 

Laccolites  in  the  Andes,  236,  282 

Lacteo  River,  237 

Lafonia,  district,  nature  of,  27 

Lafonia,  schooner,  10,  13,  25,  27 

Landgren,  T.,  122 

Lapataia,  visit  to,  300 

Larsen,  C.  A.,  313,  320,  321 

Larus  Scoresbyi,  28 

Las  Cuevas,  railway  station,  131 

Laurel,  108,  195 

Laurelia  serrata    195 

Lebu,  126 

Lehmann-Nietsche,  R.,  307 


Lclej,  English  farm,  170,  178 

Lena  dura,  286 

Lc6n,  F.,  152 

Leona  River,    261  ;     bare   landscape 

near,  262 
Lcssonia,  19,  22 
Liboccdrus  chilensis,    162 ;    telragona, 

84,  108,  121 
Lista,  R.,  154 
Lista  Valley,  aspect  of,  241 
Llanguihue  Province,  colonisation  in, 

157 
Los  Amigos,  stay  at,  65 
Los  Andes,  visit  to,  128,  132 
Lota,  famous  park  in,  126 
Lowenborg,  A.,  33,  129 
Lowenborg  Lake,  53 
Luche,  110 
Luma,  108 
Lundberg,    Mr.    (Koslowsky  Valley), 

205 
Lundberg,  Mr.  (Lapataia),  300 

Macrocystis,  10,  79 

Macrorhinus  leoninus,  319 

Maldonado,  R.,  116 

Mania,  84,  195 

Maniuales  River,  excursion  to,  195 

Marguekat,  F.,  297 

Maria,  Mount,  ascent  of,  24 

Marsippospernmm  grandifloruin,  94 

Martial  Moimtains,  aspect  of,  305 

Masafuera  Island,  ascent  of,  144 ; 
flora,  144,  146;  future,  148; 
penal  settlement,  147  ;  topo- 
graphy, 144,  146 ;  wild  goats, 
144 

Masatierra  Island,  topography  of, 
136,  138 

Mascardi,  Father,  mission  journeys  of, 
152 

MascarcUo  River,  42 ;  camping  at, 
46 

Mata  Blanca,  245 

Mate,  49 

Mathews,  Mr.,  x.  24 

Mayer,  Mr.,  39 

Mayer  River,  242 

Mayo  River,  boggy  ground  along, 
199 

Mayt^n,  farm,  175 

Maytenus  magdlanica,  286 

Megnplera,  326 

Merino,  J.  E.,  117 

Meseta  Chalia,  difficult  crossing  of, 
199 

Meseta  Guenguel,  pass  across,  206 

Meseta  del  Vicnto,  crossing,  259 

Messier  Channel,  85 


334 


INDEX 


Meleoro,  steamer,  76 

Miguens,  A.,  181 

Miller,  Mr.,  x. 

Mogole,  Lake,  236 

Montt,  J.,  75,  127 

Moreno,  F.  P.,  153,  212 

Morro  Chico,  stopping  at,  292 

Moyano,  Mr.,  153 

Mulinum  spinosum,  167 

Muller,  F.,  49,  54 

Murray  Narrows,  302 

Musters,  G.,  153 

Mylodon  Cave,  visit  to,  289,  291 

Myrcengenia  apiculata,  195 

Myrtus  luma,  108 

Nahtjelhuapi,  Lake,  161 
Navarin  Island,  302 
Nire,  41 

Nirehuao  Valley,  excursions  in,  191 
Nires  River,  camping  at,  241 
Nordenskiold,  E.,  290 
Nordenskjold,  0.,  40,  289 
Norquinco,  last  telegraph  ofifice,   172 
Nothofagus    antarctica,    41,    65,    89 ; 
betuloides,  43  ;   pumilio,  51,  64 

Obstrtjotion  Sound,  Indian  road  to, 

101 
Ogmorhinus  leptonyx,  319 
Olivia,  Mount,  305 
Ona  Indians,  306 
Orange  Bay,  visit  to,  308 
Oravia,  steamer,  1,  2 
Oronsa,  steamer,  31 
Osborne,  Mr.,  13 
Osorno  volcano,  157 
Otway  Station,  visit  to,  293 
Otway  Water,  nature  of,  64 

Pacheco  Island,  82 

Packe,  v.,  x. 

Packsaddle  Bay,  visit  to,  304 

Pagels,  A.,  34,  62,  150,  162 

Palinurus  frontalis,  147 

Pampa  Chica,  stay  at,  184 

Pascua  River,  249 

Patagonia,  alpine  flora,  220  ;  bound 
ary  dispute,  154 ;  camping  in 
169,  170  ;  cedars,  162  ;  dryness  of 
187 ;  equipment  for  voyage  in 
163;  forests  in,  182,  195,  234 
foxes,  tameness  of,  279  ;  fur  trade 
208 ;  history  of  discoveries,  151 
154 ;  horses,  163 ;  hospitality 
184  ;  journey  planned,  150  ;  lamb 
marking,  192  ;  life  of  peons,  177 
ostriches,  179 ;  rapid  changes  of 
temperature,     211  ;      salt-lagoons, 


18;  solifl  action,  200;  swamps, 
198  ;  table-mountains,  188  ;  thefts 
of  horses,  174 ;  water-birds,  187, 
213 ;  vegetation  of  pampas,  107, 
182,  203 

Patagonian  Channels,  animal  life  in, 
83 ;  forests,  84 ;  glaciers,  299 ; 
latitudinal  changes  of  vegetation, 
84 ;  meeting  Indians  in,  82,  84, 
85 ;  nature,  83 ;  scenery,  78  ; 
traffic,  84 ;  weather,  79,  83  ; 
western  passage,  85 

Patagonian  skerries,  nature  of,  79 

Payne,  Mount,  ascent  of,  282  ;  aspect 
of,  280  ;  geology,  282,  284 

Pearce,  J.,  8 

Peel  Inlet,  survey  in,  88  ;  possibility 
of  crossing  inland  ice  to,  287 

Pembroke  lighthouse,  7,  8 

Penas  Gulf,  visit  to,  85 

Peninsula,  Lake,  236 

Perez -Rosales  Pass,  crossing  of,  160 

Pernettya  mucronata,  56 

PeuUa,  arrival  in,  159  ;  forests  round, 
161 

Pico  River,  visit  to  German  settle- 
ment, 188 

Pillar  cactus,  128 

Pitt  Channel,  bad  anchorage  in,  87 

Philesia  huxifolia,  84,  254 

Philippi,  F.,  141 

Philippi,  R.  A.,  153 

Philomel,  Port,  11 

Poa  flabellata,  16 

Podocarpus  nubigenn,  84 

Poncho,  107,  129,  164 

Popper,  J.,  309 

Port  Egmont,  old  settlement  in,  22 

Port  Louis,  30 

Port  Stanley,  life  in,  3 

Porvenir,  steamer,  296 

Posadas,  Lake,  visit  to,  222,  224 

Pot  Harbour,  changes  in,  317 

Potrancas,  rivulet,  242 

Preston,  Mr.,  176 

Primero  de  Mayo,  297 

Princess  Ingeborg,  leave  Sweden  on,  1 

Principio,  Mount,  camping  at,  222 

Pudeto  River,  voyage  up,  113 

Pudu,  115 

Puerto  Blest,  160 ;  snowstorm  in,  161 

Puerto  Montt,  departure  from,  156 

Puerto  Varas,  157 

Pueyrredon,  Lake,  visit  to,  222 

Puma,  203 

Punta  Arenas,  32,  199,  312 

QUEBRADA  DE  LAS  CaSAS,  144 

Queen  Adelaide  group,  82 


INDEX 


33^ 


Quellon.  visit  to,  122 

Quemado,  Jlouiit.  camping  at,  177 

Quensel.  P.  D..  viii. 

Querquedula  Eatoni,  320 

Quila.  115 

Quillango,  208 

Ramirez.  Chilean  settlement,  S3 

Reeves,  Mr.,  259,  262 

Reid,  A.,  ix.  2 

Resi  Inlet,  discovery  of,  289 

Rhea,  179 

Rhodostaclujs  bicolor,  115 

Rio  Grande,  excursion  to,  75 

Robinson  Crusoe,  135 

Robinson's  Grotto,  143 

Roble,  56,  64 

Robles  River,  crossing  of,  239 

Roca,  Lalce,  boat  excursion  on,  301 

Rogberg,  C,  1,  312 

Rojas,  B.,  33,  62,  296 

Rojas  River,  discovery  of,  53 

Romanche  Bay,  visit  to,  299 

Rosario,    Lake,    dangerous    swamps 

near,  182 
Roth,  C,  159 
Roth,  S.,  155 
Roy  Cove,  settlement  in,  15 

Samuel  Cove,  visit  to,  118 

San  Carlos,  excursion  to  settlements, 

29 
San  Clementi,  Mount,  206 
San  Lorenzo,  Mount,  236 
San  Martin,  Lake,  boat  excursion  on, 

249  ;    glaciers,  253,  255  ;    icebergs, 

249,    255;     terrible    squalls,    250, 

252 
San    Pedro    Island,    117;     primeval 

forest,  120 
San  Valentin,  Mount,  206 
Santa  Cruz  River,  crossing  of,  26 1 
Santalum  fernandezianum,  description 

of  last  specimen,  142 
Santiago,  Swedish  colony  in,  127 
H.M.S.  Sappho,  arrival  of,  31 
Sarmiento  Channel,  84 
Sarmicnto,  Lake,  remarkable  nature 

of,  284 
Sarmicnto,  Mount,  298 
Saunders  Island,  visit  to,  22 
Saunders,  Mr.,  293 
Saxegothea  conspicun,  195 
Schonmeyr,  A.,  127 
Schonmeyr  glacier,  255 
Sea-elephant,  319,  323 
Sea-leopard,  319 
Selkirk,    A.,    139 ;     commemoration 

tablet  to,  140 


Senguerr  River,  crossing  of,  191 

Sheep-dip,  247,  268 

Shehuen,  valley  of,  259 

Sixteenth  October  Valley,  180  ;  rain- 
forests in,  182 ;  Welsh  Colony, 
181 

Skottsberg,  C,  viii. 

Skottsberg,  Lake,  visit  to,  283 

Skunk,  260 

Skyring  \Vater,  coal  mines,  73 ;  colon- 
ists, 66  ;  fossils,  73  ;  gales,  65  ; 
glaciers,  67,  68 ;  history  of  dis- 
covery, 62 ;  hydrography,  72 ; 
nature  of,  67 ;  travels  of  Indians, 
66,  68 

Slogget  Bay,  gold-digging  in,  309; 
fossils  in,  308  ;    marine  flora,  310 

Smyth  Channel,  84 

Sociedad  Esplotadora  de  Tierra  del 
Fuego,  268,  271 

Solarium  tuberosum,  114 

South  Georgia,  arrival  in,  317 
climate,  318  ;  hunting  whales,  325 
hurricanes,  323  ;  nature  of,  318 
vegetation,  319  ;  voyage  to,  314 
whaling  industry,  313,  321 

South  Patagonia,  gold-digging  in, 
64  ;   history  of  colonies,  269,  289 

StefiEen,  H.,  155 

Stewart,  Mr.,  193 

Stipa,  261 

Svea,  Mount,  visit  to,  51 

Tachyeres  cinereus,  47 

Talkahuano,  naval  port,  126 

Tar,  Lake,  swamps  round,  258 

Tecka  River,  184 

Tehuelches,  199,  237 

Tempanos     Narrows,     strong     tidal 

currents,  69 
Tempanos,  Port,  discovery  of,  89 
Tepu,  Tepualia  stipularis,  96,  121 
Thesleff,  A.,  155 
Thessalia,  steamer,  312 
Tierra     del      Fucgo,     alpine     flora, 

50  ;    arrival  at,  38  ;    bird  life,  44, 

47,   55;    boundary    dispute,    311; 

camp  life,  48 ;  equinoctial  gales,  57 ; 

forests,  55  ;   gold  prospecting,  309  ; 

mission     station,     35 ;      mountain 

scenery,  45,  49  ;   peat  bogs,  42,  45  ; 

tertiary  fossils,   75 ;    weather,   43, 

'62,  55 
Todos  los  Santos,  Lake,  158 
Tow,  steamer,  117,  124 
Transandino     railway,     128;      great 

tunnel,     130 ;      wild    life     among 

labourers,  130 
Trichomanes,  139 


336 


INDEX 


Tronador,  Mount,  excursion  to,  160  ; 

glaciers  with  vegetation  on,  160 
Tropilla,  163 
Troya  Channel,  86 
Tuco-tuco,  189 
Tuco-tuco,  rivulet,  241 
Turbis  River,  292 

Ulloa,  F.,  104 

Ultima    Esperanza,    visit    to,    288  ; 

boat  excursion  from,   289 ;    great 

caverns  near,  291,  292 
Ulva,  110 

Underwood's  farm,  stay  in,  180 
Undine,  steamer,  321 
Upsala  glacier,  survey  near,  277 
Usborne,  Mount,  ascent  of,  29 
Ushuaia,  visit  to,  304,  311 
Uspallata    Pass,    crossing    of,    130 ; 

statue  of  Christ  in,  131 

VacasIIMottntains,  241 

Valdivia,  visit  to,  126 

Valdivia,  P.,  104 

Valdivia,  steamer,  116 

Valdivieso  Mountains,  40  ;    discovery 

of  pass  across,  53 
Valenzuela,  F.,  296 
Valparaiso,  visit  to,  127 
Ventisqueros  Inlet,  survey  in,  68 
Verbena,  210 
Verde,  Mount,  40 
Veronica  elUpiica,  13 


Vest  fold,  steamer,  124,  127 
Viedma,  Lake,  visit  to,  261 
Viel    Channel,    first    encounter    withj 
channel  Indians,  82 

Warrah  Riveb,  excursion  in  valley  of, 
23,  24 

Westpoint  Island,  nature  of,  15 

Whales,  blue,  326;  fin,  326;  hump- 
back, 326;  right,  324;  whale-oil, 
327 

Whaleboat  Sound,  298 

Whaling  steamers,  324 

Wickham  Heights,  ^ 

Winter's  Bark,  43,  56,  66 

WoUaston  Islands,  vegetation  of, 
304 

Woodsworth  Bay,  beautiful  water- 
fall in,  90 

Worsley  Sound,  289 

Yahgan  Indians,  disappearance  of,i 
101  ;  encounter  with,  302,  303 ; 
mussel-banks  of,  301 

Yegua  Madrina,  163 

Yelcho  River,  excursion  in  valley  of, 
123 

Yerba,  49 

Zapallar,  visit  to,  132 
Zapato,  Mount,  287 
Zeballos    River,    camping    at,    219  j 
mountain  scenery  east  of,  220 


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